Things to Do in Vermillion

Louise Connolly spent six years touring five continents with Lord of the Dance. For most of that time, the two-time Irish Dance World Champion from Dundalk, Ireland played the female leading role as Saoirse, the virtuous, white-frocked dancer who tries to save the hero from the temptations of pork rinds. As this epic production crisscrossed the globe, Louise became a cultural ambassador for Irish dance, to which she is now a certified teacher with the Irish Dance Commission in Dublin.

At her dance studio, both soft- and hard-shoe dance is taught to boys and girls, children and adults. Depending on the type of jig performed, students slip on lace-up ghillies or hard shoes with fiberglass tips and heels. While maintaining a statuesque torso, the dancers kick, tap, shuffle, and twirl in solo dances or céilí routines that contain up to 16 people. For toes that desire reward beyond the occasional jello soak, the studio can prepare them for competitions called feis, which judge choreography and execution at regional, national, and world levels.

The Ballroom is the dancing brain baby of Denise Aamlid, who graduated with a dance minor in 1981 and has been helping folks two-step their way through life ever since. Friday-night open dances include 20 minutes of instruction on the dance style of the week, anything from swing and the cha-cha to the tango and waltz. Following the introductory lesson, you and your partner will dance to handpicked tunes for an hour and a half, providing a full night of lively dancing fun. Partners don't change at Friday-night open dances, so you won't have to worry about wrapping your arms around the neighborhood garbage can filled with baby raccoons. The card you'll get with this Groupon can be used by more than one person; it allows both you and a partner to get in for the reduced rate. Check the schedule to find a date that works for you.

All manner of monsters prowl the halls of the Sioux Falls Jaycees Haunted House. Sadistic clowns smile from shadowed corners, herding visitors into a blood-spattered room where a ghoul in a straitjacket waits. Strobe lights and fog convince the senses that they've entered an otherworldly dimension or a very dusty camera, concealing the ghastly robotics and props lurking around each bend—such as a leering, demonic child named Hex. Though the attraction seeks to terrify, its ultimate goal is far more altruistic: ticket profits go to the Sioux Falls Jaycees, a community-service group whose volunteers don masks and gallons of fake blood to staff the entire house.

From the vantage point of an overstuffed sofa, bowlers can comfortably watch as their team members and opponents compete inside Eastway Bowl. In addition to luxurious seating arrangements, each of its 32 lanes features a ceiling-mounted 32-inch LCD monitor and a coffee table that can cradle specialties from the Eastway Sports Lounge and Grille. Visitors can dine lane-side on breaded cod fillet or jumbo hot dogs, or peruse menus in the lounge. Seven high-definition television screens surround the dining area, broadcasting highly anticipated sports games and television coverage of children chasing sugar-cereal mascots.

Landshark Scuba is one of South Dakota's only Professional Association of Diving Instructors–certified centers; the facility has been educating landlocked locals in the diving arts since 2005. With the Discover Scuba class ($35), novice divers will be introduced to scuba diving within the safe and relatively shark-free confines of Landshark's pool (a $5.35 pool fee is included with this deal). Diving basics will be covered by Landshark's staff of friendly and experienced masters of maritime mobility. Should you choose to pursue further diving instruction at Landshark, credit from this beginner's class will count towards your PADI Open Water certification.

Four Midwestern locations bear the Crossfire Paintball name, together covering more than 200 acres of natural wooded terrain and open battlefields peppered with logs and drain-pipe bunkers. During typical high-speed, team-based battles, soldiers splat each other with watercolor-tipped spears and biodegradable balls filled with nontoxic paint as they attempt to capture the enemy's flag. Just as games for small groups and birthday or bachelor parties boost camaraderie among friends, corporate outings foster vital interoffice skills such as problem solving, quick thinking, and coordinating ties with colorful shirt stains.