Swing dancing, Balboa, and Lindy Hop in Los Angeles and Orange County
The West Side has suffered a loss of some popular swing venues (remember Suzy Q’s?) and can’t seem to hold onto new ones to save its life. It’s too bad considering how many swing dancers live on the West Side who have to drive to Pasadena to go swing dancing (like me). Rusty’s Rhythm Club is the standout in Playa Del Rey.
Instructors David Stockin and Barbara Yeh have revived Swing dancing at SOHO Dance LA, located just east of the 405 and north of Santa Monica Blvd. It will be happening every 3rd Sunday of the month, making it one of…
Casa Del Mar is an upscale beachfront hotel in Santa Monica. They have a beautiful vintage lobby which sometimes hosts bands like Barbara Morrison and Leftover Cuties. There is no dance floor, but management doesn’t seem to mind people dancing…
The Fairfax Farmer’s Market occasionally has danceable bands during the summer. The bands usually play somewhere in the Farmer’s market dining area. There is sometimes a small dance floor. The ambiance is great. Bring a partner, though, because these events are often…
Camp Hollywood is the biggest and best annual Swing dance event in Southern California. Dancers and instructors come from around the world to attend this celebration of Swing dancing, Balboa, Blues, and more. The popularity of Camp Hollywood has not diminished over time,…
This is one of the few weekly options for Swing dancing on the West side of L.A. Rusty’s has been going on since 1998 and always features live music. Crowd is friendly with very wide range of age groups…
This group started out dancing at Third Street Promenade, but now we mainly dance at Tongva Park in Santa Monica once a month on Sunday afternoons during the summer. Surface is smooth cement and wood beams, not bad for outdoor…
UCLA has a ballroom dance club that holds swing dances about once per quarter, usually with a live band, Swing Inc. These usually have mostly students and staff of UCLA, with a few West Side locals. Go if you’re nearby…