Big Apple Ballroom Crest
Big AppleBallroom
A full dance floor under coloured lights at Big Apple Ballroom, couples dancing after the evening class

Big Apple Ballroom for Teams

A guided partner-dance session for your team, in our Union Square ballroom or at your office. Beginners only, no partner needed, sixty minutes to a full evening.

Tell us your date

We run private sessions for companies that want something more useful than a scavenger hunt and less stiff than a workshop: a real dance class, taught by the same instructors who teach our students every night, with music and a room that make it feel like an occasion.

Occasions

What It's For

  • The holiday partyThe room, the food and the DJ in one booking.
  • A January wellness seriesA weekly session on your own floor.
  • The offsite or team dayAn afternoon that gets people off their chairs and talking across teams.
  • A new-hire cohortStrangers meeting each other with something to do.
  • An ERG nightAn evening with real cultural content behind it: Latin, Swing, Ballroom.
  • A client night or milestoneA produced evening with a short professional performance.

Why it works

Why Dance

Sedentary teams don't become collaborative by sitting through another deck. A partner-dance session puts people on their feet, paired with colleagues they might never otherwise talk to, inside a clear structure: a step, a role, a phrase of music. Learning something new together, with coaching, is the same practice people need back at the desk: ask, listen, adjust, recover. It's a movement break and a culture activity in one booking, and it works for people who have never danced.

Ballroom or office

Formats

At our ballroom · 78 Fifth Avenue

  • The Class60–75 minutes

    An interactive group lesson in a private ballroom. The entry point for happy hours and smaller teams.

  • The Social2 hours

    The Class, then open dancing with a DJ, hors d'oeuvres and soft drinks. The holiday-party format, for up to 100 people.

  • The Showcase3 hours

    The Social with a ten-minute professional performance. For client nights and milestones.

At your office

  • Floor Session45–60 minutes

    A lunchtime or after-work class on your floor, in your lobby or in a room nearby. We bring the instructors and the sound; you clear the space.

  • Team Series4 or 6 weekly sessions

    The same group, once a week. A habit rather than an event, and the format that changes how a team treats each other.

  • All-Hands Social90–120 minutes

    A class followed by open dancing at your venue. DJ optional; your venue handles food and drinks.

Live music, photography and lighting can be added to any format. Every session is built for your headcount and date.

Sample agenda

What Your Team Will Actually Do

Floor Session

60 minutes at your office · 30–40 people · 2 instructors

  1. BeforeWe arrive 30 minutes early, clear a walking lane and set up the speaker.
  2. 0:00Music is already on. People arrive; nobody waits for stragglers. The instructor names the plan in two sentences.
  3. 0:03Solo warm-up to the music: weight changes, walking in time, a basic rhythm everyone can do in office shoes. Nobody is paired yet.
  4. 0:12Frame, shown solo first: where hands go, how far apart people stand, what leading and following mean as jobs. People choose a role.
  5. 0:18First pairing. A two-count exercise with no steps: one person suggests a direction, the other goes. Swap roles. Anyone can stay solo and mirror.
  6. 0:26The step. One basic figure, taught in pieces and built with a partner. Rotation offered once, never enforced.
  7. 0:40A second figure or a variation, depending on the room. Instructors move through the pairs and fix one thing per couple.
  8. 0:50Social round: two songs, everyone dances what they learned, then one rotation for anyone who wants it.
  9. 0:57Close. What was learned, in one sentence. Music stays on while people leave.
  10. AfterWe're out in 15 minutes and the space goes back to what it was.

The Social

2 hours at 78 Fifth Avenue · 40–60 people · 3 instructors, host and DJ

  1. BeforeCoat check open, hors d'oeuvres and soft drinks set, DJ playing. A host greets people at the door.
  2. 0:00Doors. Fifteen minutes of arrival with music and food before anything starts. Nobody is asked to dance yet.
  3. 0:15The Class, 45 minutes, with two or three instructors on the floor.
  4. 1:00Open dancing. The DJ moves between the dance you learned and music people already know. Instructors stay on the floor as partners. Food service continues.
  5. 1:35One short moment if you want it: a toast, a thank-you, an award or a group photo on the floor. A performance fits here if you add one.
  6. 1:45Last three songs called.
  7. 2:00Close. Load-out is ours.

Comfort

How We Handle Contact

Every session is built for beginners and for a workplace. Nobody brings a partner. Rotation is opt-in; anyone can stay with the same person or work solo for any segment. The hold is a frame — hands and forearms, shoulder-width, the way it looks in a ballroom, not a hug. People pair same-role or mixed as they prefer; leading and following are jobs, not genders. Instructors read the room and adjust, and anyone who wants to sit a round out just does.

  • Beginners only
  • No partner needed
  • Wear what you wore to work
  • Up to 100 at our ballroom
  • At your office anywhere in Manhattan

78 Fifth Avenue

The Room

A group class with the lights up — beginners in everyday clothes practising in pairs
An instructor walking a pair through a step during a group class
Students standing in a circle listening to the instructor before the next step
A live band playing in the ballroom during a salon night
Lights down after the class — couples dancing across the floor
A group gathered on the studio floor at the start of a class
Couples dancing in front of the band on a salon night
Guests dancing under pink and green party lights

Who we are

The Studio

Big Apple Ballroom teaches adults to dance at 78 Fifth Avenue, between Union Square and the Flatiron. Michael Choi, the owner, is a Fellow of the ISTD and an examiner for Dance Vision and USIBDA, and his choreography credits include the Rockettes' Summer Spectacular and a Kennedy Center production. The studio runs a salon series with live musicians and produces its own showcases. The same instructors, musicians and performers are who show up for your team.

Before you book

Questions People Ask

Does anyone need dance experience?

No. Every session is built for beginners, and nobody needs to bring a partner.

What if someone doesn't want to partner up?

They don't have to. Every part of the session has a solo version, rotation is opt-in, and anyone can sit a round out.

What should people wear?

Whatever they wore to work. Any shoe with a smooth sole is fine; socks alone are not.

How many people can you host?

Up to 100 at our ballroom. At your office it depends on the space — roughly 1,000 to 1,200 square feet of clear floor for 40 people.

Can you come to our office?

Yes, anywhere in Manhattan. We bring the instructors and the sound; you clear the space and point us to it.

How much does it cost?

Every session is quoted for your format, headcount and date. Tell us about the occasion and we'll come back with one clear recommendation.

Tell Us About Your Team

The occasion, a rough date and how many people is all we need to start. We'll come back with a recommendation.