page_title: Glen Echo Park, Maryland
section_title: Social dancing
hierarchical_section_title: Glen Echo Park, Maryland / Arts and cultural center / Social dancing
caption_attribution_description: English: Contra dancers at a Friday night dance at Glen Echo Park in January 2019
context_page_description: Glen Echo Park is an arts and cultural center located in Glen Echo, Maryland that, in its former incarnation, was a popular Washington, D.C.-area amusement park that operated for several decades from the early 1900s to the 1960s. The arts and cultural center takes its name from the amusement park.
  Located roughly 9 miles northwest from downtown Washington, D.C., the site of Glen Echo Park was originally conceived and developed as a National Chautauqua Assembly in 1891. Following the foreclosure and sale of the Chautauqua grounds in 1903, leisure facilities were then developed for the growing population of Washington, D.C. In 1911, the site was significantly expanded to become Glen Echo Amusement Park, which operated continuously until its closure in 1968.
  Today Glen Echo Park is one of the more important cultural resources in the Washington, D.C. area, offering hundreds of classes, workshops and performances in the visual and performing arts.
context_section_description: Glen Echo Park offers a broad array of social dance events and classes as part of its standard programs. There are regular dances and classes in waltz, swing, contra, and salsa. Dances take place in the historic Spanish Ballroom, the Bumper Car Pavilion, and the recently renovated, climate-controlled Ballroom Annex (The Back Room). Approximately 60,000 people attend Glen Echo Park's dances each year. A $19 million renovation of the Spanish Ballroom in 2003 returned it to its original splendor, giving it continued prominence as one of the premiere sites for dancing in the Washington DC area.  The 18-month renovation was preceded by a National Park Service led, volunteer-labor makeover of the deteriorating Bumper Car Pavilion, converting it into an all-weather dance pavilion & band shell, for uninterrupted dancing through the renovation.  Currently, it remains in use as an alternative dance venue and for private events, such as wedding receptions.
  All social dances are open to the public, for all ages, with no prior experience or partner required. All dances offer an introductory lesson before the dance begins and most include live music. Alcohol is prohibited on park grounds, and smoking is prohibited in all buildings.
caption: Contra dancers at a Friday night dance in the Spanish Ballroom
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