On a Tuesday evening in March, the parking lot at Beaverdale's Dance Academy was full forty minutes before class. Inside Studio B, instructor Carlos Mendoza taught from the hallway doorway, 32 students shuffling in unison to the accordion's pulse. Three women shared a single mirror. A retiree in running shoes asked a teenager in platforms to mark the basic step for him.
This is what happens when a dance school adds one Cumbia class and, within six months, ends up running four.
From One Class to Four
Beaverdale's Dance Academy launched its first Cumbia session in September 2023. The offering was modest: one beginner class on Thursday nights, taught by Mendoza, who trained in Barranquilla, Colombia, and spent three years touring with Los Corraleros de Majagual. Director Maria Gomez expected steady interest. She did not expect a waitlist by week three.
By January, the academy had expanded to four sold-out classes weekly: two beginner sessions, one intermediate, and a new Saturday morning family class. Parents bring children as young as six. College students arrive in groups. And a growing contingent of Colombian-American families—some driving from Des Moines and Ankeny—has made the studio a gathering place for traditions that had nowhere else to go locally.
"I had neighbors I never spoke to, and now we coordinate what color we're wearing to the Sunday social," said Rosa Aguilar, 34, who enrolled with her mother and two aunts in October. "Cumbia was everywhere in my house growing up. I never thought I'd find it in Beaverdale."
Spilling Into the Streets
The academy's Cumbia success has moved beyond its walls. In February, the Beaverdale Winter Market added a live band to its evening programming for the first time in eight years; the act, local group Theodore & The Tides, closed its set with a 15-minute Cumbia medley that emptied vendor booths onto the dance floor. Since then, the band has added three Cumbia standards to its regular repertoire.
Theodore Vance, the band's frontman, said the shift was pragmatic. "We kept getting asked. After the market, we had people coming up saying, 'Where can we hear this again?'" Two Des Moines夜总会—Azucar Lounge and Club Imperial—have since added monthly Cumbia nights. Club Imperial's owner, Derek Okonkwo, said attendance at those events runs 40 percent higher than his typical Latin dance night.
Other dance schools have taken notice. In April, Grandview Ballroom added Brazilian Forró to its schedule. The Iowa Dance Collective in Windsor Heights launched an introductory salsa series in May. Neither school attributes the move solely to Beaverdale's Cumbia classes, but both acknowledge the demand surprised them.
"We all saw the same crowd sizes at community events this spring," said Elena Voss, Grandview's program director. "It made us ask what other styles we've been sleeping on."
A Different Kind of Dance Student
The Beaverdale Cumbia crowd defies easy demographic sorting. Mendoza's 7 p.m. Tuesday class includes Jim Halvorson, 67, a retired firefighter who had never taken a dance class before January; he now arrives early to stretch with a group of women from his neighborhood book club. There is also Diego Castellanos, 19, a Drake University student from Houston who grew up listening to his grandmother's Colombian vinyl and wanted to learn the steps she never taught him.
"I thought I'd be the youngest person by thirty years," Castellanos said. "I'm not. There's a whole table of us who go get tacos after class."
Gomez, who opened the academy in 2017, said the mix is what distinguishes the Cumbia program from other offerings. "Ballet has a type. Hip-hop has a type. Cumbia right now has everybody," she said. "It's more than just a dance; it's a celebration of culture and community. We're thrilled to see such enthusiasm, and we're dedicated to providing a space where everyone can experience the joy of dance."
How to Join
The academy's four weekly Cumbia classes remain at capacity, though Gomez said a fifth session is likely by fall. A waitlist operates through the studio's website, and drop-in spots occasionally open when students cancel 24 hours in advance. Private lessons with Mendoza are also available.
For schedules, pricing, and registration, visit Beaverdale's Dance Academy or call 555-123-4567.
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