You know the scene: the crowded mass of writhing bodies. The sweat, the strangers. Yeah, the seamy underbelly that is our city's Swing dance scene. If you're under 21, there aren't too many well known options to get your fix. The most popular is probably Century Ballroom's Sunday night all-ages dance. The music is great and there's always an abundance of people to dance with. Unfortunately, that abundance of available dancers also means an extreme lack of space to...do anything. Thursday nights at the Russian Civic Center on the back side of Capitol Hill present a welcome alternative, though the lack of crowd has its cost.
The first thing I noticed is that this dance was a community thing. There was no bar, no low lights, no bouncer at the door checking ID's and stamping hands. This also meant that I could bring in my bottle of water without shoving it into a purse. At Century, you feel like you're somewhere doing something. At the civic center, you just feel like you're dancing, which isn't necessarily the most horrible thing ever, but it doesn't exactly feel like the wild night-life you'd always envisioned growing up in the boonies of Utah.
It's also harder to disappear into the crowd after an awkward dance. With an attendance struggling to reach 30 people, it's hard to find anything vaguelly resembling a crowd. If you've never been a single guy working the floor at a dance hall, you don't know what I'm talking about, but let me just make it clear that it is very important to be able to disappear if things go south, or if that girl that you really wanted to dance with finally escaped the clutches of the creepy old dude. Speaking of creepy old dudes, there are significantly fewer of those, making the dance hall much more high schooler friendly.
Long story short: If it's Thursday night and you just want to dance, the Russian Civic Center is a good bet, and at $5 a head, it's not too hefty wallet-wise. Plus, there's no creepy walk on Broadway late at night. But, it might be a good idea to bring a date, because the pickins are a little slim if you're hoping to work the floor.
Although we seem to usually be fans of making you do your own homework, I don't like to watch someone suffer, so here's a little website to help you on your way.
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I've been to this! It is an absolute blast (says the girl who grew up in the boonies of Utah). I will say, I think it would be less fun for guys, as the responsibility to lead falls to them. But, as a girl with some dancing ability, bouncing around the room with random guys who do know how to lead is a lot of fun. And, if you do get a bad lead, it's not actually that hard to get away and find a better dancer for the next song. I guess there are just more guys than girls there. It is hot and sweaty inside, but they're good about letting you back in when you go out for air. This place gets a thumbs up from me.
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