So You Think You Can't Dance

If you’ve ever thought there isn’t anything to do in central Connecticut, Vinnie’s Jump and Jive will prove you wrong. With all that this dance studio has going on, there is just no excuse for boredom around here. With different classes in different genres going on every night of the week and social dances just about every weekend, they’re just begging to show you that you can dance.

Started in 2000 by the Community Health Center in Middletown, and with space donated by Vinnie Amato, Vinnie’s opened its doors as a wellness and community building center. Their mission is to promote health and wellness in Middletown and to build community, and between the vast array of classes and their dance socials, they’re living up to that mission. With classes like tap, jazz, hip-hop, country line-dance, salsa, blues, swing, ballroom, belly-dance and yoga, there really is something for everyone.

Vinnie’s hosts dance socials most Friday evenings. Salsa social dances are typically on the second and fourth Friday evenings from 9:00-Midnight, while the blues and swing social dances are on the third Friday evening also from 9:00-Midnight.

At the beginning of each salsa social, they offer a free 15-minute crash course from 9:00-9:15 pm so if you’ve never danced salsa before, you can learn some basic steps to get you going. If you really want to know what you’re doing though, they also offer Beginner Salsa from 8:00-9:00 pm and Beginner/Intermediate Salsa from 7:00-8:00 pm just before the dances. These courses can serve to get you comfortably on the dance floor, or help you improve your skills that you learned at previous dances.

Prior to the Blues/Swing Social Dances, they offer Blues Dance 101 and 102. The 101 course, at 8:00 pm before the social, is a basic introduction to blue dancing so you can know what to expect and have a feel for the dance before the social begins. The 102 course, at 7:00 pm helps dancers who have either attended previous classes or dances before and just want to learn some new moves. Recently, Vinnie’s held a class on dips for example and they regularly consider which moves people might be most interested in learning.

Whichever social dance or dance class you attend though, you can rest assured that you’ll have a good time.

Program coordinator Josh Van Vliet says, “One of the things I love about it here, is that everyone is incredibly friendly – when you come to a dance here, people will ask you to dance. It won’t be like you come and sit in a corner all night because nobody has asked you to dance and you’re too shy to ask. It’s a very open and friendly community.”

So whether you just want to shake your groove thang or learn to bust a move on the dance floor, Vinnie’s has got you covered. Put your dancing shoes on and head over to Vinnie’s. Classes range between $9 and $13 with socials coming in between $5 and $8. Check their website at www.vinniesjumpandjive.com for specific prices and times or call at 860-347-6971 extension 3777.