Centre Social Dance

State College, where Centre Social Dance [CSD] is hosted, is a tiny mountain hamlet with rich cultural resources. The biggest challenge facing our city is the deep and often antagonistic disconnect between residents and students. CSD bridges this gap by creating a space that welcomes both groups. By not relying on university resources, we level the playing field and offer the same opportunities to residents and students alike.

CSD helps build a stronger locals arts community locally by supporting local bands and providing a space where artists of all backgrounds can share ideas and collaborate. We’re building relationships with local dancers, bands and venues, who all post to CSD’s facebook page to let everyone know about new opportunities. Additionally, CSD has been hard at work developing a safety team that addresses the needs of our diverse community. Our welcoming and caring environment has been welcoming to LGBTQA+ dancers, dancers with mental and physical disabilities, and dancers from more than 10 countries. Dance is a universal language that helps gives us a share goal, builds interpersonal skills around consent and boundaries, and helps individuals to find their voice through creative expression.


CSD empowers the local dance community by engaging non-student community members who are otherwise unlikely to become involved in the local dance community. Our facebook page operates as a forum for free exchange of local dance and music opportunities. Anyone can become an instant organizer by sharing an idea and letting interested dancers know when and where to go! CSD enriches public spaces weekly (sometimes multiple nights each week!) by energizing the performances of our local bands. Dancing in public spaces inspires new people to dance with us, helps us find talented artists to collaborate with, and improves attendance at shows where locals come to see both the dancers and the live music. CSD enhances mobility in the most literal sense. Dance has been shown to improve cardiovascular health, coordination and balance, and aids in weight loss. Moving to a more centrally located venue will make CSD easily accessible by walking, biking and public transit. Partner dancing isn’t just about movement, it’s also about communication, which is why social dance has also been shown to improve psychological well-being, mental functioning, and general social skills.

State College, where Centre Social Dance [CSD] is hosted, is a tiny mountain hamlet with rich cultural resources. The biggest challenge facing our city is the deep and often antagonistic disconnect between residents and students. CSD bridges this gap by creating a space that welcomes both groups. By not relying on university resources, we level the playing field and offer the same opportunities to residents and students alike.

CSD helps build a stronger locals arts community locally by supporting local bands and providing a space where artists of all backgrounds can share ideas and collaborate. We’re building relationships with local dancers, bands and venues, who all post to CSD’s facebook page to let everyone know about new opportunities. Additionally, CSD has been hard at work developing a safety team that addresses the needs of our diverse community. Our welcoming and caring environment has been welcoming to LGBTQA+ dancers, dancers with mental and physical disabilities, and dancers from more than 10 countries. Dance is a universal language that helps gives us a share goal, builds interpersonal skills around consent and boundaries, and helps individuals to find their voice through creative expression.


CSD empowers the local dance community by engaging non-student community members who are otherwise unlikely to become involved in the local dance community. Our facebook page operates as a forum for free exchange of local dance and music opportunities. Anyone can become an instant organizer by sharing an idea and letting interested dancers know when and where to go! CSD enriches public spaces weekly (sometimes multiple nights each week!) by energizing the performances of our local bands. Dancing in public spaces inspires new people to dance with us, helps us find talented artists to collaborate with, and improves attendance at shows where locals come to see both the dancers and the live music. CSD enhances mobility in the most literal sense. Dance has been shown to improve cardiovascular health, coordination and balance, and aids in weight loss. Moving to a more centrally located venue will make CSD easily accessible by walking, biking and public transit. Partner dancing isn’t just about movement, it’s also about communication, which is why social dance has also been shown to improve psychological well-being, mental functioning, and general social skills.

Our organization presently works with three main groups within State College to achieve our goals and grow as an organization. Our most prominent being 3 Dots a community center in downtown State College where rent a space weekly for our organization. We have worked with 3 Dots since its conception to not only participate in their facilities but to also add to their mission in creating a space for creativity and new concepts to flourish. Through work with them we have the physical infrastructure to be able to continue our lessons and outreach as well as a comfortable space to encourage new participants in our organization. To aid in continuously gaining new members and improving the skills of our current members, we have a very positive relationship with Penn State's Social Dance Club. This local institution provides excellent teaching and learning opportunities for Penn State affiliates and community members. Our positive communication with them allows for us to collaborate on ideas and projects as they are developed throughout the year.

Internally, Centre Social Dance has a team of dedicated individuals that work to make the artistic and community vision of CSD a possibility. This team consists of community members in all areas of interest as well as many students from the local institution of Penn State. As State College is small and our team comes from a variety of areas, CSD is equip to manage community issues, safety concerns, and continue to expand and push our artistic boundaries.

Thus far, our organization has grown from an idea to a non-profit. Centre Social Dance started out as a group of dancers that wanted to work together to be able to participate in an activity. Since that concept our group has solidified as an organization that meets weekly, works with other community leaders, and offers a s safe space for dancers in the Centre County area. Our organization has created an atmosphere that provides a creative space for learning how to dance and learning how to participate in an often eclectic dance scene.

In the past year we have won a grant that has allowed us to formalized our status as a local non-profit, hire exceptional regional dancers to provide next-level instruction, find a permanent home in the heart of downtown State College, and create and environment where new ideas can flourish. In the upcoming year we aim to solidify our fundraising efforts, share our talents and interests with other local venues, and continue to develop community participants skills in social dance.