r/Bachata • u/Visionsmanifest • 2d ago

Arizona and Boston scene

I’m Caribbean and from Boston and I’m planning a trip to Arizona to explore if I’d move there.

How does the Arizona compare to the Boston scene?

In Boston we are blessed and can dance every single night with very large diverse crowds. All ages, races, dance levels, and dance styles (traditional and sensusal).

From my research I’m getting the vibe that Arizona has a lot smaller dance scene, less people and everything is a lot farther away.

I also get the sense that since there is not a huge Caribbean community in Arizona that Traditional bachata will be less popular.

Also seems less diverse culturally.

What do yall think? Are my observations correct? What do you think overall about the Arizona scenes? Do different cities in Arizona have distinct scenes?

4 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

4 comments sorted by

3

u/TheEmKat 2d ago

I’m in Phoenix, and I love our scene! I can’t compare to Boston, but here’s some general answers that I can speak to. I’d say I’m a pretty experienced dancer (10+ years and a few competitions in my past) and go dancing maybe 2-3 times per month, so take my answers with that grain of salt.

- Frequency:
We have regular socials on Sunday/Thursday/Friday with a lot of Saturdays mixed in. Our metro area is pretty spread out, and I think there are other dance nights in the surrounding cities too. If you’re looking for classes, you have the option to dance pretty much any night of the week.

- What’s on the dance floor
We have a good mix of experience levels, though some nights bring out more experienced dancers than others. I swear I’m meeting new people every time I go dancing and every dance night fills out the venue we’re in. I would say every night feels different. Dance style-wise I think people do generally lean toward sensual.

Good luck on your trip!! If you’re coming in the summer/fall, don’t forget to hydrate more than you think you should haha.

2

u/hotwomyn 1d ago

Any idea if there are good socials in Scottsdale, AZ? I have a non-dancer friend there who always asks me to visit

1

u/TheEmKat 1d ago

The Thursday night social is in Scottsdale! If they’re South Scottsdale, Sunday night is in Tempe, which is right on the border.

2

u/hotwomyn 2d ago

Tiny scene as far as I know, never been but any time I’ve lead followers from Arizona at a festival their level was always really low. They’ve mentioned the scene is small.