The Rhythm Lounge

The Rhythm Lounge is a new monthly swing dance on the 2nd Saturday of each month in Redwood City organized by the same folk who bring you the fun Swing Central dance on Tuesdays.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/swing-central-redwood-city

I expect this event to be just as successful and enjoyable as Swing Central. The teachers and the DJs should all be good. The Imperial Ballroom is not far from Foresters Hall, the Swing Central location, and a great dance floor.

The grand opening was Saturday, 12 January 2008 and very well attended. I highly recommend checking out The Rhythm Lounge. It looks like a typical schedule will be:

8pm - 9pm - Beginner Swing Lessons
8pm - 9pm - Intermediate Swing Lessons
9pm - midnight - Open Social Dancing

Check the website for the actual schedule.

I wish the Rhythm Lounge happened more often than just one Saturday a month. It's another great swing dance put on by the people who run Swing Central, and seems to draw a similar (very friendly) crowd. I made it for the first time last night, and will certainly be making it a new part of my dance habit... (The next ones are June 13 and July 4, I think.)

This month there was an intermediate class at 7 and beginner class at 8; the teachers were helpful and engaging, and found a good balance between fun and challenging for classes with a pretty wide range of skill levels. Social dancing was from 9 to midnight. The DJ, one of my favorites from Swing Central, played a great mix -- he always seems to do a good job paying attention to the energy of the room and varying the mood and tempo accordingly, keeping people happily dancing for the whole night.

They're at a new venue in Burlingame starting this spring, which is a nice space for dancing. The dance floor is smooth and feels spacious although it's not huge; it stayed pretty busy for most of the dance, but in a way that mostly felt intimate rather than crowded. There's a kitchen area off to one side, with water and some snacks, and a kind of lobby area near the entrance that was good for cooling off and chatting.

Unlike some other dances, where the really good dancers tend to keep to themselves in one corner, here people were doing a lot of mingling, even more so than at Swing Central. I'm pretty shy, but got asked to dance several times, and found many people approachable enough to do some asking myself.

I completely fell off the swing dance band-wagon this summer, but I managed to hit the Rhythm Lounge twice. I like this place a lot - calm vibe, a place to sit, lovely bathrooms, water and snacks, and, of course, lively music and good sized dance floor! Carla does a good job of catering to beginners, so this is a great place if you've never done Lindy Hop before! The dance also tends to sport a variety of dancers from around the Bay Area, probably because it's only once (now twice?) a month, and it's on a weekend.

It might be worth mentioning that this is the current manifestation of Redwood City Swing, which used to have a weekly dance in Redwood City (Swing Central) on Tuesday nights. That died a few years ago, and a sad, sad time it was.

This is a great place to dance! Friendly people. Great classes. Once-a-month dance, sometimes with live music, often offers a little performance during the evening. (btw, Tuesday is Lindy Central's weekly night: classes and dj'd dance). Close to restaurants, easy parking. Lindy Central also offers weekend workshops, called Le Hot Sauce. I make the trek from Mill Valley because it's so much fun!
Check out www.lindycentral.com