The Des Moines Ballroom Country Program Coordinator

Anne Bates, the lead instructor at Des Moines Ballroom, began dancing in 2006 as a student at Des Moines Ballroom. She transitioned to a full-time, professional ballroom dance instructor in 2008. With a background in physical therapy, Anne is suited to teach proper movement, strengthening, balance, and flexibility in dance. A student at heart, she continues to seek individualized coaching to further develop her own skills and instruction.

Throughout her career, Anne has competed, judged competitions, taught classes, choreographed formation performance teams of all ages, and coached the Iowa State University (ISU) competitive ballroom team. As an instructor, she developed – and continues to direct – the youth program at Des Moines Ballroom; created and co-chairs the Des Moines Day of Dance every May; and co-organized the Des Moines Dance Classic – Iowa’s own professional dance competition every November. Most recently, Anne took over the country program at Des Moines Ballroom, expanding the number of dances and Practice Parties dedicated to the growing country dance community in Des Moines.

Des Moines Ballroom’s Approach to Country

Requests for country dancing have been increasing over the years. To meet the needs of Des Moines’ dance community, Des Moines Ballroom launched their country program in the Winter of 2023.

Des Moines Ballroom offers seven partner dances in their country program: Country Two Step, Country Waltz, Country Western Swing, Country Polka, West Coast Swing, Cha Cha, and Night Club Two Step. Variations of all these styles are danced around the country, even within the same city. In response, Des Moines Ballroom approaches their country classes by teaching the generalized variations so their students can dance no matter where they find themselves.

Of the seven country dances, Country Western Swing is the newest dance. Because the dance is so new, a formal syllabus for teaching the dance hasn’t been developed. In preparation for launching the country program, Anne conducted hours of research to develop her own syllabus that melds with the other styles of dance taught at Des Moines Ballroom.