- December 4, 2025
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Dance is an art form that allows expression through movements of the body and keeps a person active.
It’s also a way to immerse in the local community and form lifelong bonds.
The West Orlando Westies is an organization dedicated to teaching West Coast Swing and providing a space to meet others. The organization meets from 7 to 10 p.m. Tuesdays at the American Legion in Winter Garden.
The three founders of WOW, Gary Jobst, Chris Rupp and Mia Primavera, wanted to give their community a space to learn the dance that transformed their lives.
Jobst began country dancing in the early ’90s in California. At that time, West Coast Swing dancing had started to gain attraction and he picked up that form of dance, discovering it was a strength.
“It helped take me out of my shell,” he said. “When I first started, I was in the military, and it was not an easy time to do that, and it was a great social outlet. I ended up making a lot of really good friends, some that I still have literally 30 years later.”
Rupp picked up Neo-Swing in the 2000s during college. He learned off VHS tapes with his friends. They developed a strong love for the dance and started a club in college, which led Rupp to teaching for two years. Once he finished school, it wasn’t a part of his life anymore until nine years ago, when his girlfriend at the time wanted to take dance lessons.
“We started it and then broke up, like three weeks later,” Rupp said. “I said, ‘Well, let’s keep doing it, anyway.’ … I got really hooked on it and then started traveling the world, going to events and competing and learning.”
Rupp is a professional musician for his day job. He moved to Orlando three years ago and connected with Primavera when collaborating on a music video.
After they finished the video, the two continued dancing together and through mutual connections met Jobst. All three had the idea of creating a space to teach their dance, but with full-time jobs, they didn’t have the time to create it on their own.
“I found out about Chris and then Mia, and it was kind of like one of those things that all of us wanted to do something, but none of us wanted to be the 100% sole provider of this,” Jobst said. “So it was a really good combination, because we could all kind of do it together. We could run it by ourselves if it happens, like occasionally, Chris travels for his job and ends up gone for a few weeks, and then I’m there to cover it 100% while he’s gone.”
With collaboration, WOW was born in April 2023.
Since its founding, Primavera has moved away, but Jobst and Rupp have continued to grow the organization.
They looked around for a perfect venue for WOW and landed on the American Legion in Winter Garden. Jobst said dance clubs look for particular spaces that have wooden floors and an open floor plan. Typically they’re older buildings, and he said it can be challenging to find one that doesn’t allow smoking.
When WOW first started renting the building, they allowed people to come free of charge for the first month. Now they charge $15 for lessons and $5 for just social dancing.
Each night starts out with an hour of dance lessons, kicking off at a beginner level and transitioning into beginner plus. The next two hours are spent socially dancing.
“It’s a social club as much as it is a dancing thing,” Rupp said. “And we really want to bridge that community aspect, because if you are having fun socially, and these are your friends, it doesn’t really matter what the activity is.”
Rupp and Jobst take turns teaching each class, and on occasion, they will bring instructors from across the country and world. They also offer private lessons if people would like to fine-tune their skills. Jobst said that happens intermittently, with around 5% of any given Tuesday’s attendees signing up.
“Often, people will have a lesson with their guests as they’re in town just to get their new perspective and new voice,” Rupp said. “I also do specialty workshops once a month for those that are competing and trying to advance their dance as well.”
About 30 to 40 dancers attend each Tuesday regularly. The largest night had 65 participants.
On smaller nights when only regulars are there, WOW starts out with advanced lessons to keep the dancing engaging.
“Our location is central to west Orlando, but our attendees are definitely not,” Jobst said. “They’re from everywhere. But I love the fact that it’s helped a lot of folks to develop their own social circles. … (It) forces you to get out of your comfort zone a little bit. Knowing what it did for me and seeing that happen for other people has been amazingly gratifying.”
West Orlando Westies does special events, too. They’re dedicating this September as beginners month and designing lessons to attract those that have never done it.
As WOW has grown, they’ve started an ambassador program to involve more people, and the program has more than a dozen ambassadors. Jobst said those choosing to be an ambassador talk to new dancers to make them feel welcome and answer any questions they might be too nervous to ask instructors.
Jenn Staples has lived in Winter Garden for 18 years. She started with WOW when it first came about and now has become an ambassador.
Staples has loved being able to create lifelong friends through dance and feels a part of the community more than ever.
“We’re just having fun and dancing,” she said.
“It’s wonderful sharing this love of the dance and the community to other people and having stories like Jen,” Rupp said. “This is her social network. Half of her friends are from this dance group now, and seeing those kinds of stories really warms the heart, that myself and the other community leaders have created something that makes people’s lives better.”
Jobst has seen how social dancing has impacted the lives of attendees and his own connection to the Orlando community. With Orlando being tourist based, he’s noticed it can be difficult to make lasting friends when people are coming and going.
“Having the dance world and then we do occasionally go out for dinner after the dance is over, or we meet for other alternative social opportunities, things other than dancing together,” Jobst said. “That has significantly strengthened the friendships that I have in the area.”
West Orlando Westies is part of the larger swing dancing community in Orlando. They promote other clubs and collaborate on workshops like the Orlando Westie Prom from Friday, Nov. 21 to Sunday, Nov. 23.
Rupp said the dancing community is intertwined and WOW’s attendees often head to east Orlando for additional lessons.
