Be-Boppin’ Babes is a couple of women who teach ballroom and swing dance lessons, both regular multi-week classes and for private parties.  Two different classes are taught each Friday night, one from 7:00 to 8:00 and one from 8:00 to 9:00.  Check their web site for details on what particular dances are being taught, the prices, and so forth.

All California venues are non-smoking.

Dancing one Saturday per month (which one varies), featuring the East Bay’s hottest DJs.

All California venues are non-smoking.

No information available.

All California venues are non-smoking.

Fourth Tuesday of the month. Women’s bar.  Lessons by Zoe.  Live country music by Kitty Rose.

All California venues are non-smoking.

No information available.

All California venues are non-smoking.

No information available.

All California venues are non-smoking.

Dance floor is about 15' x 25', with the rest of the bar about double that.  One long side of the dance floor is mirrors, and one short wall is the DJ booth.

Dancing is Tuesdays and alternate Saturdays.  Dance lessons are on Tuesdays, taught by Ron Points; they run from 8:00 to 9:00, currently just line dances.

All California venues are non-smoking.

Lessons are two-step and swing.  No additional information available. No new information since January 2003; may be defunct.

All California venues are non-smoking.

The Dance Factory is a dance studio rather than a bar.  No additional information available.

All California venues are non-smoking.

     Fairly large dance complex, with several rooms and bars tucked into odd corners.
     Monday features dance lessons with DJ (and teacher?) TJ, and there is early evening dancing (until 10:00) on both Wednesday and Sunday.

All California venues are non-smoking.

     Fire Island is a video and dance bar.  Line dancing is held on Wednesdays, starting with a dance lesson.  The DJ is Rosa.

All California venues are non-smoking.

Ground Zero is located in Cathedral City, just a few blocks from the popular gay resort, Cathedral City Boy’s Club and across the street from the large IMAX theater.

The club has a bar area at the entrance, then a 20' x 30' dance floor, and beyond that are an air-conditioned “patio” and a room with pool tables.  Dance lessons are taught on Tuesdays (line) and Wednesdays (two-step) from 8:00-9:30, followed by karaoke (no open dancing).  The bar used to get a good crowd on Saturday nights after about 9:00, but that has apparently salacked off and country on Saturdays will stop after Labor Day in 2003.   The Sunday early-evening crowd is said to be pretty light.

All California venues are non-smoking.

“Hot to Trot” is the women’s weekly dance night in Oakland and takes place every Friday from 7:30-1:00 am.  Dancing includes two-stepping, East and West Coast swing, salsa, waltzes, nightclub 2-step, some Lindy and line dances.  Each week there is a dance lesson from 7:30-8:45.  It’s a great atmosphere and lots of fun!  Beginners always welcome.  Venue is the Glenview Performing Arts Centre, a lovely venue with nice wood floors and lots of atmosphere.  (It used to be a Women’s Club.)

Scent, smoke, and alcohol free

I am also looking for help with the dance (set up people).  These jobs are usually work exchange (free admission), so please e-mail me at hot2dance@aol.com if you are interested or tell friends who might be.

By Car:
    Highway 580-exit Park Blvd. Proceed up the hill on Park Blvd. until you reach a two-block shopping area. Glenfield Ave. is at the stoplight on your right side.
     Highway 13-exit Park blvd. Proceed down the hill on Park blvd. until you reach a two-block shopping area. Glenfield Ave. is at the stoplight on your left side.

Parking:
     Street parking with meters on Park Blvd. Residential parking along Glenfield Avenue (one way onto Park Boulevard) as well as other residential side streets.

By Bus:
     AC Transit Bus #15 can be boarded at the El Cerrito, Ashby, MacArthur and 12th Street BART stations. The #15 bus travels on Park Boulevard and turns around in Montclair.  The #15 stops at Glenfield Avenue.

For further info call Zoe at (510) 763-1343.

All California venues are non-smoking.

     Kickers is located in San Diego’s Hillcrest neighborhood, just a couple blocks from the main intersection at University and 5th.  The bar is attached to the San Diego edition of the Hamburger Mary’s restaurant chain, so you can get a meal before dancing, and just enjoy the outdoor space.
     The interior is broken up into two spaces.  The bar area is between the dance floor and the restaurant, and features a huge oval-shaped full service bar, with a slightly raised seating area against one wall; the bar area often gets quite crowded.  The dance floor is about 20' x 35'.  One long wall is all mirrors, one short wall has some bar tables and the DJ booth, and the other two walls are elevated seating areas.
     Kickers currently has dance lessons on Thursday through Saturday, followed by open dancing on Thursday and Saturday, or by country Karaoke on Friday.
     San Diego is home to the San Diego Gay Rodeo, which occurs in late September, one of the most popular on the gay circuit.  Kickers is thus the home bar to the San Diego chapter of the Golden State Gay Rodeo Association, and of two local performance team, Kickers Cloggers and Backstreet Cloggers.

All California venues are non-smoking.

No information available.

All California venues are non-smoking.

No information available.

All California venues are non-smoking.

No information available.

All California venues are non-smoking.

Metronome is a straight dance (teaching) studio which also offers a few gay and lesbian dance classes.  (They are based in San Francisco, after all.)  They have two locations within a block or two of each other, and the last I knew, the same-sex classes took place at the smaller, second location, the Metronome Block Party.  The Block Party has a nice dance floor, about 40' x 25', with a smaller floor upstairs and a DJ booth on the first floor.  The Metronome periodically also hold weekend night dance parties for its different classes, including the same-sex ones.  Check their website for what classes and parties are scheduled.

All California venues are non-smoking.

Michelle Kinkaid, a former swing dance champion, teaches West Coast Swing lessons in San Francisco (Monte Cristo Club) and Mountain View (Flex-It Studio) every week  Each night has two one-hour sessions, either Basic and Intermediate levels or Intermediate and Advanced.  Lessons are $10 for drop-ins (one level), $32 for a month (4 weeks) of one level, or $48 for a month (4 weeks) of both levels.

The classes are primarily straight, but same-sex couples or gender-swapped dancers (female leads, male follows) are frequently seen and completely accepted.

Michelle also teaches other dance styles on other nights, at other locations.  She also sells instructional videos.

All California venues are non-smoking.

     Oil Can Harry’s is located on Ventura Boulevard, parallel to the Ventura Freeway, close to Burbank.
     The dance floor at Oil Can Harry’s is about 20' x 30', with a stage at one end.  Bars and standing areas can be found on the other three sides of the floor.
     Country dancing is done on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, with lessons on Tuesday and Thursday, taught by Cari.  A schedule of what dances are being taught can be found on the Oil Can Harry’s web site.

All California venues are non-smoking.

No information available.  Apparently open only on Saturdays during summer (and hence no country dancing).

All California venues are non-smoking.

     Lessons run from 7:30 to 8:45, with the first 45 minutes being Beginning East Coast Swing and the other 30 minutes being Lindy (“Beyond the Basics”).  Open dancing follows with DJ Big Bea.  No other information available.

All California venues are non-smoking.  This is also a scent free (no cologne or perfume) space.  May be alcohol free, too.

All ages classes.

LGBT Center is accessible via BART and Trolley.  On-street parking can be difficult.

All California venues are non-smoking.

All ages venue.  Vintage attire encouraged.  Comfortable shoes recommended!

Accessible via BART and Trolley. On-street parking can be difficult.

All California venues are non-smoking.

     The Rawhide is located in one of the older areas of the city, largely untouched by the glitz of Hollywood and Burbank.  Nearby are homes, Mexican restaurant, and corner liquor stores, but the area never feels unsafe.
     About 1/3 of the interior of the building is the dance floor, perhaps 25' x 35', featuring one thick, off-center post.  The bulk of the rest of the space is occupied by several pool tables.
     The Rawhide does country Tuesday through Friday evenings, with an hour of dance lessons at 8:00 each night, and then again on Sunday from 4:00 to 10:00 (with lessons for the first hour) during their popular Sunday afternoon beer bust.  Music (and perhaps lessons) are by Rick.

All California venues are non-smoking.

No information available.

All California venues are non-smoking.

     The Savoy is usually a women’s bar, so expect a higher proportion of women here than in most places.  As I recall, it has a small (10' x 12'?), one-step-up dance floor.
     DJ is Georgia.  Last I knew, dance lessons were taught by Marie Kirby.

All California venues are non-smoking.

Recently renovated their dance floor.  Web site lists Wednesdays as “Cowboy & Leather Night,” with a free BBQ at 5:00.

All California venues are non-smoking.

Swing venue.  Lessons are basic East Coast Swing.

All California venues are non-smoking.

     Sundance Saloon is the dance venue hosted by The Sundance Association for Country-Western Dancing, which was formed in the late 1990s as a reaction to the reduced crowd at local dance venues, and as a means for the country-western community to “give back” to the greater gay community.  The venue is run entirely by volunteers.
     Sundance Saloon was originally held in the cavernous King Street Garage, better known as the backside of Pleasuredome, the largest gay dance club on the West Coast; it was directly across the street from San Francisco’s baseball stadium, Pac Bell Park.  In July 2002, they moved to a new site in the industrial area near the intersection of highways 101 and 280, called *space550.
     The main dance floor is about 40' x 60', and the attendees (both members and non-members of the Sundance Association) contributed money so that they could install a real dance floor to dance on.  It is real good to dance on.  This room is where the original format dance instruction is held.
     As of this time Ron Points and Charles Sterck are the instructors and they alternate Sundays.   The format is generally an hour of couples lessons followed by 30 minutes of line dance instruction. The other room (the “Green” Room) has evolved to be a multi-dance room with a second track of lessons.  The Sundays in January 2003 were devoted to Intermediate West Coast Swing, in the month of February were East Coast Swing, March will be Intermediate Waltz; April is scheduled to be Line Dances (taught by Andrew Johnson), and May is planned to be Intermediate Two-Step.
     The DJs are Ingu Yun, Steve Carter (originally from San Diego), and Hal Moss when he is available.
     Sundance Saloon hosts several fundraisers each year, and the Sundance Association hosts other dance events falling under the Sundance Saloon umbrella in conjunction with the Bay Area gay rodeo, Bear Rendezvous, and even leather club runs.  The Sundance Association has “given back” thousands of dollars to the local community over the past several years.

All California venues are non-smoking.

There is dancing every Wednesday night at TD’s Bar in Santa Clara.  Lessons are by teachers Kenny Hashimoto, Randy Pocius, and Dave Hayes.  Open Dancing with DJ Ten-Gallon Hal.  No cover charge!

All California venues are non-smoking.

Formerly a lesbian bar called Sisters.  No further information available.

All California venues are non-smoking.