Soldotna woman hopes to add to local dance community

One area woman is hoping to bring together the Kenai Peninsula’s community of dance lovers into one easy-to-reach place and create more casual, social dance opportunities in the process.

Soldotna resident Sally Macy is the organizer of the Kenai Peninsula Social Dancers, a group she said will be dedicated to creating more chances to dance on the peninsula and sharing information about existing opportunities. She said all ages and ability levels will be welcome and dance styles will likely include everything from salsa to ballroom.

Macy said she drew inspiration for the group from the way social dancing worked where she lived in the Seattle area for the last 20 years. There, she said, evening dances for adults were regularly hosted by different groups of people and widely publicized.

“In Seattle there’s a lot of meet-ups,” Macy said. “The ‘meet-up’ isn’t big here.”

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Macy attended a dance class in Soldotna offered through the Community Schools program, and said she met several people who didn’t know of any place to go for dancing, but wanted to learn anyway. She then created the Kenai Peninsula Social Dancers Facebook page, which she wants to use to identify and cultivate a group of dancers or people interested in dancing on the peninsula. Having them gathered in one place will make coordinating community dance opportunities easier, she said.

Macy’s hope for the group is that, as it grows, members will team up to provide spaces and opportunities for social dances and publicize them to each other. She also plans to post upcoming courses taught by local instructors.

“And I see that people will start opening up some venues that they don’t realize are valuable,” Macy said of the group’s future.

Macy said she hopes the group will also help people get out of the house and stay active during the dark winter months.

“It’s just a way of socializing and exercising at the same time,” she said.

Other opportunities for those looking to get moving include the Peninsula Artists in Motion, a nonprofit dance company for women based in Kenai, as well as the Kenai Performers, a theater group which performs a musical each year in addition to smaller productions throughout the year. Dance classes and Zumba are also offered through the Community Schools program in Soldotna.

Contact Macy at 425-223-1575 for more information on the Kenai Peninsula Social Dancers.

Reach Megan Pacer at megan.pacer@peninsulaclarion.com.

More in News

Christine Cunningham, left, and Mary Bondurant, right, both members of the Kenai Bronze Bear Sculpture Working Group, stand for a photo with Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel and a small model of the proposed sculpture during a luncheon hosted by the Kenai Chamber of Commerce in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Model of bronze bears debuted as airport display project seeks continued funding

The sculpture, intended for the airport exterior, will feature a mother bear and two cubs.

The Kahtnuht’ana Duhdeldiht Campus on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninula Clarion)
State board approves Tułen Charter School

The Kenaitze Indian Tribe will be able to open their charter school this fall.

Alaska State Troopers logo.
Homer Middle School teacher arrested on charges of sexual assault and burglary

Charles Kent Rininger, 38, was arrested March 12 by Alaska State Troopers.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski raises her right hand to demonstrate the oath she took while answering a question about her responsibility to defend the U.S. Constitution during her annual address to the Alaska Legislature on March 18, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Murkowski embraces many of Trump’s goals, but questions his methods

Senator addresses flood concerns, federal firings, Medicaid worries in annual speech to Legislature.

A researcher points out fragments of elodea found in the upper stretches of Crescent Creek caught on tree branches and down logs. (Emily Heale/Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association)
Homer conservation district feels impacts of federal funding freeze

Programs related to invasive species, habitat and trails, native plants and agriculture have all been negatively impacted.

Cemre Akgul of Turkey, center left, and Flokarta Hoxha of Kosovo, center right, stand for a photo with members of their host family, Casady and Patrick Herding, at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (Photo provided by Patrick Herding)
International students get the Alaska experience

Students to share their experiences visiting the Kenai Peninsula at a fundraiser dinner on Sunday.

Lisa Gabriel, left, watches as beach seine nets are pulled from the waters of Cook Inlet at a test site for the gear near Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Proposal to use beach seines in commercial fishery killed

The board amended the proposal to remove setnets from the east side setnet fishery before the motion failed 3-3.

An aerial photograph shows the area where the new Seward Cruise Ship Terminal will be constructed. (Screenshot/Seward Company image)
Work begins on new Seward cruise ship terminal

Work has begun at the site of the new cruise ship terminal… Continue reading

The Tlingit and Haida Elders Group performs the entrance dance at the 89th annual Tribal Assembly of the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Trump rescinds Biden executive order expanding tribal sovereignty and self-governance

Order giving Natives more access to federal funds cited in awarding of major Southeast Alaska projects.

Most Read