To Be Determined Ballroom launches monthly tea service

The Duchess of Duluth on the Teebeedeebee dance floor accompanied by DJ Jesscribe. (Photo By Julia Guttenfelder)

As the sun shaded the clouds to pink on a Duluth Tuesday evening, Daniel Benoit’s Central Hillside garage space was transformed into a discotheque. People trickled into the dimly lit room filling it with movement, conversation, steady beats and sobriety.

Dancers and non-dancers, DJs and non-DJs all gathered to celebrate each others company over alcohol-free tea elixirs. The To Be Determined Ballroom — at times referred to as TBDB, TBD Ballroom, Teebeedeebee or Teebeedee Ballroom — held its first tea service on Sept. 15, featuring “groove session” sets from DJs Porb, Jesscribe and MalMe.

“Every time I have come to this venue I have been able to just be myself and explore a whole new world that I’ve never been exposed to before,” said a dancing Teebeedeebee frequenter, calling herself the “Duchess of Duluth.”

Recognized for Boubville, its annual winter holiday event, Teebeedeebee is known for its alternative-style events focused on creating a safe space for community members to express themselves.

“The space itself is dedicated to helping emerging artists break out of the box,” said Benoit, Teebeedeebee property owner and coordinator. “The weird stuff that people scratch their head on, that’s the stuff I love,” he said.

Teebeedeebee “bar” corner. (Photo by Julia Guttenfelder)

The walls were decorated with action figures, masks, mannequins, old cameras, and neon paint. “I think of it like a garden and right now its compost,” he said referencing the state of his ballroom.

The first time the Teebeedeebee garage was transformed into a venue was in 2022, for the inaugural Boubville, created by The Embassy art collective. Beniot described the event as a punk version of Bentlyville, satirizing the over-commercialization of Christmas.

Since then, Benoit has enjoyed using his space creatively and publicly, taking each day as it comes.

“The name TBD Ballroom is very literal — To Be Determined Ballroom,” he said. “I don’t know where exactly its gonna go, so everything is just like this little experiment.”

“I have been witness to beautiful art exhibits, everything from mixed media, to performance, to music,” the Duchess of Duluth said. “Every type of art form has been represented in the space over the last few years, and I’m very excited to get to be here.”

Benoit got the idea of the tea service from a friend who had attended a similar creative event in another city.

“There’s lots of people, especially younger generations, that don’t drink. There’s a lot of people in recovery,” Benoit said. “I’d like to do regular dance stuff in my backyard, so we’re trying it and seeing what happens.”

Tea service event sign stands outside the Teebeedeebee garage. (Photo by Julia Guttenfelder)

Everyone was enjoying the event in their own way. Some were dancing, many were conversing, and others were simply sitting, enjoying the music over tea.

The evening opened with a set from Jason Malmquist or “MalMe.”

“The vibes were so fun,” said Malmquist. “The stress was very low … everyone just came with a great attitude.”

Benoit is tentatively planning to host tea services on the second Tuesday of each month at Teebeedeebee. The next two sessions are scheduled for Oct. 15 and Nov. 10. Those who can’t attend in person can steep their tea leaves at home and share the vibe of the event via a livesteam on Teebeedeebee’s YouTube channel TBDBTV.

“I had a lot of fun live streaming,” Benoit said. “It’s cool to be able to capture the art and culture that’s maybe not as well seen in Duluth and find an outlet for it.”

“There is an audience for this sort of underground art and people want to see it. So we got the equipment and we’re gonna get back in action,” he said.