‘People love to dance!’: Merged USA Dance offers cheap dance classes in Fort Myers, Cape

Charles Runnells, Fort Myers News-Press
·2 min read

For 28 years, they’ve been spreading the joy of ballroom dancing in Southwest Florida.

“People love to dance!” explains Amy Maneval Wymer, president of Cape Coral-Fort Myers USA Dance.

The Southwest Florida chapter of USA Dance recently celebrated National Ballroom Dance Week with − what else? − another dance. But they had more to celebrate than just the sold-out Sept. 16 event: There was also the recent merger of their two separate chapters – Fort Myers and Cape Coral – into one big group again.

Cape Coral split off into its own group in 2018, but the new chapter struggled to maintain enough members, Maneval Wymer says. Now they’re back together again after merging in August.

“We’re stronger together,” Maneval Wymer says.

Low-cost dance classes in Fort Myers, Cape Coral

Cape Coral-Fort Myers USA Dance offers low-cost group dance lessons every week, monthly dance parties and other events.

Next up: A Saturday, Oct. 28 Halloween Dance Party at Cape Coral’s Rhythm in Motion dance studio. Tickets for the 6 p.m. event are $15-$17 (or $25-$30 for couples).

USA Dance national champions John and Penny DeFino are members of Cape Coral-Fort Myers USA Dance and teach classes for the chapter.
USA Dance national champions John and Penny DeFino are members of Cape Coral-Fort Myers USA Dance and teach classes for the chapter.

Together, there are about 100 members in the merged Chapter 6049: Roughly 80 from the former Fort Myers group and 20 from Cape Coral, Maneval Wymer says.

They offer weekly group dance lessons in these forms of ballroom dancing:

  • Nightclub Two Step

  • Waltz

  • Foxtrot

  • Tango

  • Rumba

  • Cha-cha

  • East Coast Swing

  • And sometimes West Coast Swing

Chapter 6049 is part of the national organization USA Dance, which promotes ballroom dancing and other dance styles, including breakdancing (although that’s not featured in the local chapter).

“We try to offer dance classes − group classes − at an affordable cost,” Maneval Wymer says. “And we also have social dances.”

Dancers pose for the camera Sept. 16 during Cape Coral-Fort Myers USA Dance's celebration of National Ballroom Dance Week. The dance at Cape Coral's Rhythm in Motion Dance Studio was sold-out.
Dancers pose for the camera Sept. 16 during Cape Coral-Fort Myers USA Dance's celebration of National Ballroom Dance Week. The dance at Cape Coral's Rhythm in Motion Dance Studio was sold-out.

Most beginner and intermediate dance lessons cost $10-$12 per class, or $15-$17 for couples. They’re taught at various locations in Lee County. Classes at Four Freedoms Park are $10 per person (no couples rate).

The classes are taught by professional dancers. National dance champions John and Penny DeFino, for example, teach various dance styles at Rhythm in Motion.

For more information, call 863-703-2250, email southwestfloridausadance@gmail.com or visit facebook.com/southwestfloridausadance.

— Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. To reach him, call 239-335-0368 (for tickets to shows, call the venue) or email him at crunnells@gannett.com. Follow or message him on social media: Facebook (facebook.com/charles.runnells.7), X (formerly Twitter) (@charlesrunnells), Threads (@crunnells1) and Instagram (@crunnells1).

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: USA Dance hosts ballroom dance classes in Fort Myers, Cape Coral