Every weekend, Arlington Hall in Provo invites country, swing and Latin dance lovers to come together at Tippin’ Point, a paid dance event.
During the event, participants learn dance styles such as swing dancing, salsa and bachata, practicing them throughout the night, current employee Alaina Sampson said.
“It is a place for anybody and everybody,” Sampson said. “It doesn’t matter if you grew up dancing or if you’ve never danced a day in your life. You can come here, have a good time and meet people.”
The hall is divided into two separate rooms, one for country swing and the other for Latin dancing. At 8:30 p.m., the dance lessons begin, but once the clock strikes 9:30 p.m., it’s a free for all, according to Tippin’ Point’s website.
“We have 30 minutes of country instruction, and then 30 minutes of Latin instruction,” Sampson said. “So, you get to try both.”
It took a lot of hard work and patience for the event to kickoff, current owner Miguel Guzman explained.
“The owner started this business after realizing there was a big need for college students to have a place that was safe for them to come, dance, meet other singles and have a good experience,” Guzman said. “He (the former owner) put an obscene amount of money on a credit card as well as a fortunate amount of time letting everybody know, ‘Hey, there’s a good place to come.’”
Tippin’ Point has been a household name since 2001, he said.
“I grew up in a small town in Colorado and that’s what we did for fun,” Breanna Rogers, who attended Tippin’ Point, said. “My grandpa taught me swing dancing, so I like to freshen up my skills every once in a while."
Edward Henstreet, another attendee, learned how to swing dance while living in Rexburg and has been attending Tippin’ Point ever since he moved to Provo.
“When I was going to school up in Rexburg, it was one of the only things to do, so that’s when I got really into it,” Henstreet said.
Not only is dancing super easy to learn, but it’s also easy to teach, both Rogers and Henstreet said.
“Country dancing is the gateway drug to other dancing,” Guzman said. "You come in, you’ll have a great time, you’ll be accepted, you’ll have a lot of friends, you’ll want to try a whole bunch of new styles and you’ll quickly have a dance family.”
A lot of people are introduced to Tippin’ Point by going on a date there, Sampson explained, especially since it’s so low pressure.
“We’ve probably been the result of more marriages than anywhere else in Utah,” Guzman said. “We had a proposal last week.”
To learn more about Tippin’ Point, visit their website.