How much Balboa do I need to know to attend TinkerBal?
- The TinkerBal class format assumes that ALL students have learned and are comfortable with the basic figures and techniques of Balboa & Bal-Swing. In other words, you’re at least intermediate & you know how to do both basics, come-arounds, lollies, toss-outs, swivels, out-and-ins, paddle turns & other ad-lib progressives, and crabwalks — even if you’re still working on making those things feel smooth & swingy. If you’re new to Balboa, we encourage you to take Fundamentals classes and plan to join us for TinkerBal next year!
Is there a “hard cap” on registrations?
- Yes, in order to keep group sizes small, registration is capped to limit groups to 10-12 students each, with no group larger than 12 students. Additionally, we are enforcing role balance within groups, so that may further restrict the number of available spots.
What do you mean by “enforcing role balance?”
- We will set up 6 groups for the weekend, each with 10-12 students. Within each group we will only allow there to be one extra lead or follow. This means that the maximum difference between number of leaders and followers for the entire workshop is 6 — so it’s possible for us to have less than the maximum number of one role if there are not enough registrations for the other. If we start skewing towards one role, we’ll set up a waitlist until we get better balance.
What happens if I get put on the waitlist?
- If you get put on the waitlist for one role, you’ll wait until enough people have signed up for the other role. Once that happens, you will be notified that you’ve been put on the registered list, and will get email about how to pay (see below). Note that while there is no guarantee that you’ll get taken off the waitlist, your spot is reserved at the workshop — there will be space for you as long we get sufficient numbers of the other role by the time of workshops. **Note that this has not been an issue for several years, as the workshop fills entirely in both roles. We expect similar this year, particularly with the new form+lottery mechanism.
- If you are on the waitlist because TinkerBal was already at full capacity, you’ll only get a spot in the workshops if someone else cancels. PEOPLE DO CANCEL. We encourage you to consider coming to Boston anyway for the weekend: whether or not you get a spot in the workshops (and people DO get in off the waitlist, every year, sometimes at the very last minute), there will be lots of social dancing and you can do fun Boston things during the days!
- In either case, you don’t need to send money until you get OFF the wait list and have a spot in the workshops.
Should I come to Boston even if I got waitlisted?
- Absolutely yes! People DO get in off the waitlist, every year, sometimes at the very last minute, so you never know. Even if you don’t get a spot in the workshops, come to Boston anyway for the weekend — there will be lots of social dancing in the evenings and you can do fun Boston things during the days! Check out our Boston Activities page for ideas!
I didn’t receive a confirmation email when I filled out the form. Did you get my form?
- You should receive an automated email as soon as your registration request form is completed and stored in our database.
- We’ll send out emails to all registrants who have been selected by the lottery, and an email to everyone on the wait list. See the Registration info page for details.
- We’ll send another email once we’ve received your payment. (or if we haven’t received your payment within 5 business days.)
The code for the registration process is homegrown — so if you think you should have received an email, but you did not, let us know at info@tinkerbal.com.
How much does all this good stuff cost?
TinkerBal 2025 will have 3 price tiers: Standard, Patron, and Budget. Standard is $190, Patron is $210, and Budget is $150.
If you have extra disposable income, please register at Patron level. Those dollars will help us support Budget registrants!
If you are strapped for cash, please register at Budget level. And if even our Budget price will create hardship for you, please let us know that, and we’ll get in touch directly to see what we can work out. (We are aware of the current capitalist hellscape, and want to help everyone tinker with their Bal if they wanna!)
If you are hanging in there somewhere in the middle, please register at Standard level.
Don’t worry about paying at all until you get an email from us telling you that you’ve gotten a workshop spot in the registration lottery! All these details will be repeated then, and we’ll send instructions for what to do.
Are evening social dances included in the price?
- The Saturday Night Shuffle DJ dance is included in the workshop price.
- The Balboa Speakeasy on Sunday evening is free.
- The Friday night BSC dance is not included in the workshop price, but we encourage you to arrive early to attend it and dance with us and the rest of Boston’s Lindy/Balboa scene!
Take my money! How do I pay for my spot in the workshops?
When we email you about having gotten a spot in the workshops, you can choose one of three methods. You can be given a link to submit your registration fee via credit card (using a Boston Balboa form that connects to Stripe), or we’ll arrange for you to use PayPal or Venmo.
I registered but I can no longer attend. Can I get a refund?
- Unfortunately no.
However, if there is enough time before the event, we will allow registrations to be transferred, generally to the next person on the waitlist. If we are able to successfully transfer your registration, due to the effort required in managing the groups, you will be charged a transfer fee — from nominal to draconian based on how close to the event the transaction occurs.
Er, a transfer fee?
- Yes, if you cannot attend, and assuming we can transfer your registration, we will charge you a fee. It goes something like this:
> 2 months before the event $5 < 2 months before the event $10 < 4 weeks before the event $20 < 2 weeks before the event $50 < 1 week before the event $100
I hear that masks are required?
Yeah, masks are required. We don’t like them either, but we like being sick less, and the possibility of long-covid disability even less than that. Our priority is the health and wellbeing of the entire community.
For the workshop classes and the Saturday Night Shuffle social dance, N95/KN95 masks that cover the nose and mouth are required. For the Sunday Speakeasy dance, masks are optional, because the event is held in a bar/restaurant space.