California Balboa Classic 2024 – Scholarships

Scholarships at California Balboa Classic

The Pacific Swing Dance Foundation (PSDF) and CalBal are dedicated to empowering dancers who have faced unjust hurdles due to discrimination and societal inequalities. Our scholarship program opens the doors to the vibrant world of swing dance events, striving for inclusivity for all.
CalBal is contributing a select number of scholarships, encompassing Full Ride, Travel, and Pass Only Scholarships. Join us in fueling this mission by contributing to our scholarship program. With a full ride scholarship cost of $1000, our goal is to award four full scholarships. Your support has the potential to extend a scholarship opportunity to even more deserving recipients, amplifying the impact of our collective dance community

Goals

We hope to grant a minimum of 4 full scholarships, 8 travel scholarships and 10 full pass scholarships. This has a value of over $13,000.
Your donations make this program possible. Thank you for supporting diversity and inclusion through your tax deductible donation to PSDF’s scholarship program. Please read more about the types of scholarships below.

Dates

August 15, 2023:

Scholarship applications open

September 5, 2023:

Applications close

September 20, 2023:

Scholarship applicants receive notification of their approval status

Types of scholarships:

Full Scholarship includes:

  • Full weekend pass to CalBal 2024
  • Free entry to any competitions
  • Access to a shared hotel room (with own bed)
  • Meals covered
  • Up to $400 travel stipend

Travel Scholarship includes:

  • Full weekend pass to CalBal 2024
  • Free entry to any competitions
  • Up to $400 travel/expense stipend

Pass Only Scholarship includes:

  • Full weekend pass to CalBal 2024
  • Free entry to any competitions

Scholarship Program Mission Statement

The scholarship program of the Pacific Swing Dance Foundation (PSDF) is committed to helping dancers who have been disproportionately affected by discrimination and structural inequalities in society to fully participate in swing dance culture, to include attending swing dance events. Barriers to participation are often related to factors such as race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, social class, income level, disability status, and age; however, this list is not exhaustive and the scholarship committee recognizes that dancers have unique lived experiences of inequality that may involve a combination of these and other factors. The scholarship committee will fulfill this commitment to helping dancers by providing monetary support, opportunities for community and networking, and additional guidance during the event as requested by scholarship recipients.

Scholarship Selection Process

The scholarship application consists of three sections.

  • Section 1 collects applicants’ contact information.
  • Section 2 collects information that helps determine scholarship eligibility, including what level of scholarship might be best suited to each applicant (e.g., event pass plus a stipend or an event pass only).
  • Section 3 helps PSDF to improve future programming and has no bearing on the selection process.

Applications are reviewed for eligibility by a scholarship committee that consists of the event organizer as well as members of the swing dance community from diverse backgrounds. We expect most applicants to be eligible; please read our above mission statement for clarification.

The scholarship committee will award a limited number of scholarships outright to particularly deserving applicants based on committee consensus. They will award the remaining scholarships via a lottery from the pool of remaining eligible applicants at each requested level of support.

Because it is important that participation in swing dancing remain accessible to dancers who are unable to afford the overall costs of large events, the event organizer will temporarily reserve some accessibly priced event tickets for purchase for individuals who are not awarded a scholarship.