‘Violence can’t stop dance’: how dance halls became a refuge to the Asian community

Star Ballroom dance studio in Monterey Park, California, had become a place for elderly immigrants to socialize and exercise. Photograph: Ashley Landis/AP

For Chris Cho, Star Ballroom dance studio in Monterey Park was more than a place where he learned the foxtrot, cha cha and waltz – it was also a second home.

As a kid in the early 2000s, he went to the studio after school everyday, at first to watch his older siblings compete and carry their shoes around, later to learn from renowned dancers from Europe. At 18, he became an instructor, teaching mostly Chinese students who were the same age as his parents and grandparents.