Originating in Southern California, Balboa is often described as a dancer’s dance, known for its close partner connection and intricate footwork. Commonly danced to faster tempo swing music, its elegance and seemingly effortless quality come from precise weight changes, rhythm, and musicality.
Balboa as we know it today combines two styles: Pure Balboa and Bal Swing. Pure Balboa features a close embrace with subtle, sophisticated footwork, where dancers focus on every weight transfer and rhythmic variation. Bal Swing introduces open-position movements, spins, and turns, creating a dynamic contrast through grounded movement, rotation, and stretch.
Together, these elements create a dance that is both smooth and energetic, allowing dancers to express the music with speed, precision, and connection.
We run 4-week progressive blocks so you can build your skills step by step, making it easier to grow as a dancer. A block class structure enables progressive learning, allowing you to build on what you have learned each week, improve faster, and feel more confident on the dance floor.
Teachers
Teaching alongside Exeter’s own Balboa fanatic, Jackie, is Iacopo Longo! With a sharp analytical eye and a structured approach, Iacopo has a real knack for breaking down rhythm, movement and body awareness into clear, accessible concepts – perfect for dancers of all levels. With over ten years of experience teaching both dance and mathematics, he’s great at knowing when to push, when to support, and how to make even tricky concepts feel achievable. If he gets a little too excited mid-class, that’s just the Italian charm kicking in!
Check out his Instagram here!
Information about the classes
When?
Wednesdays from 7.30pm – see our classes calendar
Price
- Block of 4 Classes – Level 1 – £30 (£26 Students)
- Block of 4 Classes – Level 2 – £45 (£41 Students)
- Drop in (Level 2 only): £12
Venue
Newton Community Centre, Belmont Park, Exeter, EX1 2HQ
Car parking: There are free short stay on street parking spaces available around Belmont park. There is also a single yellow line section of parking available on the corner of Clifton Hill.
You can park in the Triangle, Belmont Road or Parr Street car parks which are around 5 minutes walk from the venue. The car parks require a ticket to park in.
Public transport: Our venue is approximately a 10 minute walk from St James Park railway station with links to Exeter St David’s. Sidwell Street is a 7 minute walk away with bus links. There is a cycle rack directly outside the hut.
Facilities: Toilets available.
Extra information: Please bring your own water bottle as we do not have access to the kitchen in the hut.
swingexe.co.uk 