70mph With No Seat-belt: Pt 1
A few years ago I had the happy coincidence of being taken (read dragged) to a Salsa class by a good friend. That class was the first in a series of ways in which Dance would enter into and change my life completely. Fast forward a few years and I find myself in a place wanting to do something for the dance community and the city where I live (Ay Up!!). To that end I started a company, Pasaporte Events, to put on dance events in my city and the surrounding areas.
I have no idea how this adventure will go but it'll all be chronicled here on this blog series.
Part 1: The Problem - A Nightlife Culture with no alcohol??
Every good entrepreneurial story starts with a problem. In my case, with Pasaporte Events, it's quite simply the above. Salsa dancing (I'll use this term as a general catch-all for all Latin dances) is a primarily nocturnal event done by adults after work/sorting out children/general adulting with very little to no alcohol consumed during the process. Why, you might ask? The levels of co-ordination, spatial-awareness and creativity required to do it well don't allow otherwise.
I want to be caught at the end of a double turn by a tipsy person. Said No one, ever. via GIPHY
Why might that be a problem for a nocturnal activity? Primarily because the spaces available at night time tend to have their revenue driven by drink sales at bars. This has often meant that Salsa events in the UK struggle to hold onto nice venues without transferring a big chunk of those costs to the end consumers (i.e. the dancers). In such a community-centric environment that approach to pricing is a sure way to lose support fast.
My home city's scene had recently lost a few great event venues meaning that local dancers had to drive further out (1 to 2+ hours) to attend nice events. An exodus like that can kick off a vicious cycle because poorly attended events lead to a bad rep which leads to more poorly attended events. At this juncture, I decided to step in with Pasaporte Events by setting up a new party called Meneo Y Ritmo.
In the next post I'll write about preparing for the first event and how that went. Till next time!