Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Beltran.
Hi Jessica, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
O-Town West Coast Swing started with a simple idea: make West Coast Swing dancing accessible, affordable, and welcoming to everyone.
What began as a local dance community has grown into a nonprofit organization serving dancers throughout Central Florida. We offer weekly classes, social dancing, workshops, and two major events: Swingover, a weekend of workshops, social dancing, and competition, and Meltdown, a workshop weekend highlighting the incredible talent of Florida-based instructors.
One of the things that makes West Coast Swing special is its versatility. It’s a smooth, linear partner dance that can be danced to a huge variety of music, including Top 40, hip-hop, pop, alternative, jazz, and much more. You don’t need special outfits or dance shoes to get started; comfortable clothes and shoes are all you need. And because the dance can be adapted to different spaces, you can enjoy it almost anywhere there’s room to move. You also don’t need to bring a partner. Our classes welcome complete beginners, and everyone has the opportunity to learn, rotate partners, and meet new people.
But what makes O-Town special goes beyond the dance floor. We’re a community of people who genuinely enjoy spending time together, whether we’re going out to dinner, visiting Volcano Bay, experiencing Halloween Horror Nights, or simply hanging out. The friendships we build through dancing often extend well beyond our weekly classes.
Keeping dance affordable is at the heart of everything we do. Revenue from our weekly classes helps support our larger events, allowing us to keep participation costs accessible. We’re also working to create financial assistance opportunities for dancers who might otherwise struggle to participate.
Although O-Town has grown and evolved over the years, our mission remains the same: affordable dancing, a welcoming community, and a place where people can learn something new, make lasting friendships, and have a damn good time doing it.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not! One of our biggest challenges has been finding and maintaining an affordable, consistent space for our weekly classes. Most recently, we made the difficult decision to leave a location we had called home for more than a decade after rental costs increased significantly. Finding a new space that fit our budget and community needs took time, but we’re excited about our new home.
We also constantly balance growth with affordability. We want to provide quality instruction and events while managing rising expenses without passing every cost on to our dancers.
Like many nonprofits, we rely heavily on volunteers who give their time and energy while balancing full-time jobs and personal lives. Coordinating classes, events, finances, marketing, and everything behind the scenes takes a lot of work.
Every challenge has reinforced why O-Town exists. We’ve seen how much people value having an affordable, welcoming dance community, and that makes the extra effort worthwhile.
We’re still growing, still learning, and still figuring things out, but we’ve learned that the bumps in the road don’t have to stop you. Sometimes they push you toward something even better.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Outside of O-Town, I work full-time at AdventHealth in infection prevention and healthcare quality, supporting data analysis, reporting, education, and process improvement to help healthcare teams improve patient safety.
I also serve as president of the board for O-Town West Coast Swing, where I help guide the organization’s direction, oversee operations and finances alongside our board, coordinate initiatives, and work with our instructors, DJs, volunteers, and community partners to keep everything moving forward.
As a volunteer-led nonprofit, O-Town requires a lot of behind-the-scenes work, from managing venues and organizing events to fundraising, marketing, and planning for the future. My role is to help keep us focused on our mission while making sure we operate responsibly and continue creating opportunities for our dancers.
What I’m most proud of is helping build and sustain a community where people feel welcome and can participate regardless of their experience or financial situation. I love solving problems, bringing people together, and finding ways to make things work. Seeing that effort translate into real opportunities for others makes it worthwhile.
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
The easiest way to support O-Town is to come spend time with us! Whether you’re a complete beginner or an experienced dancer, you’re welcome here—and you don’t need a partner to join. Come for the dancing, stay for the friendships, and discover a community that enjoys connecting both on and off the dance floor.
We’re also open to collaborating with local businesses, organizations, instructors, and community groups through events, demonstrations, fundraisers, sponsorships, and other creative partnerships.
Businesses and individuals can contribute through monetary or in-kind donations, while volunteers can help with events, marketing, welcoming new dancers, and other behind-the-scenes needs.
Even something as simple as sharing an event, bringing a friend to class, or introducing us to a local business can make a difference.
We’re always excited to connect with people who share our belief that dance should be accessible to everyone and who want to help build a stronger, more connected Central Florida community.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://otownwcs.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/otownswing
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/otownwcs
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@otownwcs
- Other: https://www.meetup.com/O-Town-WCS
