DanceGrid is officially charting Illinois.

Right now, we’re actively mapping dance studios, instructors, social venues, and organizations across the state — starting with Central Illinois and expanding outward into Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.

This phase is all about accuracy and activity. DanceGrid isn’t meant to be a dusty directory of places that closed three years ago. It’s meant to help dancers find what’s actually happening — where to take classes, where to social dance, and who’s teaching right now.

What “Charting Illinois” Actually Means

Behind the scenes, this isn’t just pins on a map.

We’re:

• Verifying active dance studios and instructors
• Identifying regular social dances (ballroom, salsa, bachata, swing, tango, and more)
• Cataloging community organizations and clubs
• Cleaning outdated info so dancers don’t waste time chasing dead links

If you’ve ever Googled “dance classes near me” and landed on a site that hasn’t been updated since 2017 — yeah, we’re fixing that.

Why Illinois First?

Illinois has something special:
a strong mix of university dance communities, independent studios, and social dance scenes that don’t always show up clearly online.

It’s the perfect proving ground to build DanceGrid the right way — grounded in real communities before scaling outward.

Where We Are Right Now

At the moment:

• Central Illinois is being mapped in detail
• Chicago and major suburbs are actively in progress
• Early users and closed beta testers are already helping validate locations

This is a living map — it gets better every time someone contributes, verifies, or says, “Hey, this place is actually great.”

What Comes Next

Once Illinois is fully charted:

• Users will be able to discover dance more easily, whether at home or while traveling
• Studios and instructors will have a clearer way to be found by dancers who are actually looking
• We’ll expand into additional states using the same community-first approach

DanceGrid is being built with dancers, not just for them.

If you’re a dancer, studio owner, instructor, or organizer in Illinois and you’re not seeing yourself represented yet — don’t worry. We’re getting there. If you want to get on the map earlier, feel free to email us (info@dancegrid.app)!

And if you want to help shape the map?
You’re exactly the kind of person we’re building this for!

Illinois is just the beginning — but it’s an important one. Thanks to everyone already helping us chart the state, and to the dancers who’ve been quietly cheering us on while we build this thing the right way.