Author Andrew Weitzen

Andrew Weitzen has been enamored with social dancing since he first saw Scott Annan's jaw-dropping robot during the first week of their freshman year at the University of Florida.

Andrew is an enthusiastic dancer, teacher, and organizer of recreational dancing. He dances everything from Argentine tango to zydeco for fun. He loves teaching beginners. As he says, "You have to sow seeds to grow your community."

Andrew specializes in getting non-dancers dancing. He has been invited to community programs, folk festivals, club events, social activities, family programs, special-care facilities, religious observances, universities, high schools, and elementary schools.

Andrew has been a faithful promoter of dancing in North Florida, publishing two newsletters a week since 2005, one for folk and one for partner dancing. He ran the Gainesville Dance Association, an eclectic hot spot of social dancing with two to three programs daily of a score of different types of social dancing.

Andrew is a software developer. He has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics from the University of Florida. His college fraternity entered him and his fraternity's sweetheart in the university's dance marathon. So he was known as the dance man even back then. He was the high school chess champion in Alachua County. A competitive athlete, he has played in, captained, coached, refereed, taught, ran leagues, and organized sporting programs since he can remember. He played basketball for Gainesville High School. He played in the first Jose Cuervo professional beach volleyball tournament in Florida. He ran the IBM Club sports programs for 3,000 families. He has applied these experiences to dancing.

The Gainesville Dance Association

From a note to the landlord Richard and Phoebe Miles:

Thank you for renting us the space.

You gave us a great price, which allowed us to start small and grow. Your support helped us provide a unique service, which I would like to tell you about, so you know how your contributions have benefitted the community. We have programs attended by people of all ages, from young children to seniors in their 80s+.

People come to Gainesville from all over North Florida to dance. We frequently hear people say they wish they had something similar in their cities. In the last month, we have had visitors from Tallahassee, Valdosta, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Daytona, Ocala, Orlando, and Tampa. We also have guests from other parts of the country who take the opportunity to dance with us while visiting Gainesville.

I do not know of anywhere else that provides a more eclectic choice of dancing.

Here is a peek at our regular schedule:

Sundays: Monthly vintage waltz brunch, Sacred Groove meditative dance, swing, hustle
Mondays: Irish dance youth performance group, English country, Israeli
Tuesdays: Argentine tango, ballroom
Wednesdays: West Coast swing
Thursdays: Senior line dancing, salsa, social dance
Fridays: Ballroom, UF Argentine tango club, salsa and Latin dance socials
Saturdays: international Folk, monthly swing socials, twice monthly Argentine tango milongas

We also provide space to the Brazilian Cultural Arts Exchange who holds classes primarily for children, teens, and young adults. They teach Brazilian capoeira Luanda and samba on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. They host a yearly Batizado festival, with visitors from Brazil, and all over the South.

We have hosted benefits including two Tango for the Cure weekends to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research, one last month on September 29.

At the end of this month, we are running our second annual event to benefit C.A.R.D the University of Florida Center for Autism and Related Disabilities with world-class West Coast swing professional Jen DeLuca on October 27.

Last March, we ran a Gainesville Dance Festival with 18 dance teachers and 14 sessions, over 3 days.

When Maria Alvarez's Imperial Dance Studio closed after 30 years due to increased rents, we were able to provide a place for her ballroom teachers and students.

We have provided space to various young people running groups to help build leadership.

We teach classes every quarter for Santa Fe College Community Education. Our next series for them starts in November.

We have brought in world-class professionals from Argentina, Brazil, Great Britain, and around the United States. Our local instructors are wonderful as well, some with championship resumes.

People are astonished by the fantastic dance community we have created with thanks to you.

If you are in town, stop by, and check us out. I have attached our September and October schedules so you can see what has been going on at 308 West.

Once again, thank you so much.

Sincerely,
Andrew Weitzen