ABA Membership
The ABA is a non-profit association of groups known as Bop, Swing, Shag and Jitterbug dance clubs established to provide communication among member clubs, to serve as a coordinating body for member club activities and to sponsor activities of mutual interest to member clubs.
The goal is to promote and preserve those forms of dance and also to assist groups that desire to establish new dance clubs. The ABA has two classes of membership, Regular (with voting rights) and Associate (non-voting). It now consists of 27 clubs with regular membership and 5 associate members (clubs, businesses. etc.). In order to apply for regular membership, a club must be able to prove their non-profit status, usually by presenting their Articles of Incorporation filed in their particular state. The club must also have duly elected officers and/or governing body, hold regular meetings, present the ABA with a copy of their bylaws and corporate charter.
The ABA does not establish criteria for membership in any member club, nor does it become involved in disputes within or among member clubs. In other words, the ABA does not dictate or legislate behavior of members of member clubs.
Once an application for membership is received the “membership committee” reviews the information before passing it on to the President to call for a vote by the respective clubs directors. The “membership committee” consists of (5) directors in various parts of the country. It is their job to investigate the prospective club. If for any reason all of the directors in the “membership committee” reject a club for membership it does not go for a vote among the clubs.
After a club has been reviewed and accepted by the “membership committee” a full vote of all the club directors is taken and the club is accepted or rejected according to that vote. The President then sends a letter of acceptance to the prospective club welcoming them to the ABA. According to our by-laws this process cannot take more than 60 days.
