GoDanceLB.com Listings

Email or Phone Michael

    Michael3@GoDanceLB.com

 

What You Can Find in GoDanceLB.com Listings

The Listings Categories provides an overview of the Listings sections.

The rest of the notes below are also found at the beginnings of their relevant Category sections.

Listings Categories (+ Statistics)

GoDanceLB.com has approximately 200 listings (each of which is a separate entry). The listings are 'tagged' with the following Categories:

• Dance Venues & Places
  • Dance Studios & Schools  > 13
  • NCBRs (Nightclubs, Bars, Restaurants)  > 44
  • Venues, other  > 33
• Dance People & Organizations
  • Dance Teachers  > 43
  • Social Clubs  > 8
  • Dance Retail, Video, Travel  > 4 (in process)
  • Dance Performers, Troops & Companies  > 8 (in process)
  • Organizers & Promoters  > 13 (in process)
  • Musicians: Bands & DJs  >  4 (in process)
• Locations of Dance Places
  • Downtown LB  > 34
  • Coastal LB  > 30
  • Inland LB  > 31
  • LB Neighbors  > 21
• Dance Types
  • Ballroom...  > 18
  • Club Dancing  > 4
  • Salsa-Latin Dancing  > 10
  • Square. Round, Contra, Folk Dancing  > 7
  • Urban Dancing  > 8
  • Line & Tap Dancing  > 4
  • Belly Dancing, Bollywood, Flamenco, Pacific Islands  > 19
• Special Events
  • Special Events (festivals, ...)  > varies
• NCBR categories
  • NCBR Dance (places to dance)  > 44
  • NCBR Dance-cordial ('can' dance)  > 10
  • NCBR Concert (music not for dancing)  > 16
• NCBR Music
  • Music is Bands  > 34
  • Music is DJs  > 21

Dance Studios & Schools Listed

The focus of GoDanceLB.com is adult social recreational dancing; therefore we list the dance studios which have that focus in the Long Beach area. We also list the colleges which have Dance programs.

[We also list a couple of performance studios, such as NDM ('the' Bollywood studio), that are unique and do provide a few adult recreational dance classes taught by the studio's own staff).]

[Other facilities, such as studios focused on children's- or performance-dancing, are sometimes used by 'independent' Dance Teachers for adult classes, and we then list those under the category "Venues other (than adult dance studios or NCBRs)".]

Venues, other

Venues, other than Dance Studios & Schools, and other than NCBRs.
Venues, other includes:

• Dance studios which are not social-recreational adult-oriented studios, but at which a few adult-oriented dance classes are offered (these are mostly children's-focused or performance-focused dance studios)
• Public facilities such as city Parks & Rec buildings, Senior Centers, etc
• Public facilities such as museums and convention & meetings facilities
• Private facilities, other than NCBRs, that are not primarily used for dance classes or dances, but at which a few are held (Churches, fitness facilities, banquet or meeting facilities, ...)

Dance Teachers Listed

We will reach the point of having all of the teachers of adult social recreational dance in the LB area listed here; for Long Beach itself we seem to have most of those who are teaching classes listed, and this list will grow as we expand the listings to Long Beach neighbors.

• Dance Studio Owner-Teachers:  Most dance studio owners are teachers also; the few who aren't are also listed here 
• "Dance Teachers on the Move": These are 'independent' teachers who are not associated with any particular dance studio, and who teach classes at various locations (including sometimes at the studios)
• Independent Dance Teachers who Don't Teach Classes: A few of the teachers who don't teach any classes (and focus only on privates) have websites, most don't. Those with websites will be listed, those without will need to offer some other evidence that they are in fact dance teachers or perhaps wannabe's; also those without websites are pretty invisible and hard to find (contact me if you are a dance teacher we haven't yet listed )
• College Dance Teachers:  Most college dance teachers focus on performance dancing, but a few do teach classes in social recreational dancing (both CSULB and LBCC have dance programs, as do most of the colleges in the LB broader area). The growth of social recreational dancing can be enhanced by any of these teachers willing to be involved a bit with the non-academic side of social recreational dancing
• Out-of-Area Dance Teachers:  Many independent dance teachers who focus on private lessons list their "location" as being pretty much in every city in the SoCal area, but in fact many of them limit the geographic area in which they actually do teach. We will gladly list any out-ot-area dance teacher who actually does teach privates inside the Long Beach area (one Dance Teacher for example flys in from Phoenix on Wednesday mornings to teach private lessons in Long Beach for two days each week)
• Dance Teachers in Training or Preparation:  We will list some of these depending on their outlook for becoming a social recreational dance teacher; there are some dancers who are told by their friends and others that they should teach - in some cases they should seriously consider it (the best teachers of beginners are those who are good with people and good-enough dancers, too often the best dancers are not good with beginners and cause them to give up dancing); (contact us if you've been moving toward dance teaching or considering it)

Organizers & Promoters Listed

While our Dance Teachers listings are fairly complete for Long Beach, we haven't yet focused on the other people-categories; at this time we have only a few organizers and promoters listed and will be adding more as we proceed.

Social Clubs Listed

While our Dance Teachers listings are fairly complete for Long Beach, we haven't yet focused on the other people-categories; at this time we have only a few social clubs listed and will be adding more as we proceed.

Dance Performers, Troops & Companies

While our Dance Teachers listings are fairly complete for Long Beach, we haven't yet focused on the other people-categories; at this time we have only a few dance performers, troops & companies listed and will be adding more as we proceed.

Most Dance Teachers are dance-performers to some extent. The key distinction we make here is dance performers who have something substantive on their websites regarding their Dance Performance services and capabilities.

Additionally this site is about growing adult social recreational - participatory - dancing, not about watching dancing.  When dance-arts performers and performance companies do things to encourage actual participation in dancing that is a wonderful thing. We need a lot more of that in the dance world.

</mini-rant alert/> In our modern American culture, which has become so incredibly much about "watch ME" on the one hand, and "ENTERTAIN me" on the other hand, we need more actual doing rather than spectating. The massive complementary demands for "I want to be watched" and "I just want to watch" has been a major factor, it seems to me, in some of our most difficult national concerns.

My vision for GoDance.biz includes the observation: "with more dancing, the world will be an even better place" - as will Long Beach. Go Dance. Instead of sit and watch something, get up and Go Dance. Or ride a bicycle, or do something.

Musicians: Bands & DJs

While our Dance Teachers listings are fairly complete for Long Beach, we haven't yet focused on the other people-categories; at this time we have only a few musicians: bands & DJs listed and will be adding more as we proceed.

Listings of Downtown Long Beach Dance Places

These can all be visited by park-and-walk. If you park near Pine and Broadway you can go up Pine, over on Broadway, back track to South Pine, over to Rainbow Harbor, over to the Lagoon, and Convention Center, up Linden, then down Alamitos, down to Pine if you didn't start there, and back to where you parked.

Map of Downtown Long Beach Dance Places

Dance-Map of Downtown Long Beach

Listings of Coastal Long Beach Dance Places

These are spread out between the coast and 7th St; you can zigzag or S-curve among Broadway, 4th, 7th; then over to Ocean, then 2nd St, out to Marina, and up PCH

Map of Coastal Long Beach Dance Places

Dance-Map of Coastal Long Beach

Listings of Inland Long Beach Dance Places

These are further spread out: up PCH; down Anaheim, zig-zag Spring, up to Del Monte; over Wardlow, up to South Street

Map of Inland Long Beach Dance Places

Dance-Map of Inland Long Beach

Listings of LB-Neighbors Dance Places

These are very roughly grouped by cities and adjacencies; over time the listings in this LB-Neighbors section will grow as we add more dancing opportunities to the listings and mapping in this area

Map of LB-Neighbors Dance Places

Dance-Map of LB-Neighbors

Dance Teacher Groupings

Dance Teachers in the list below are organized roughly in groups:

• Dance Studio Owners and Owner-Teachers, most of the dance studios are Ballroom-etc
• Ballroom-etc Teachers
• West Coast, Country Western, Hustle, ... Teachers
• Steppin', Lindy, Swing, ... Teachers
• Salsa ... Teachers
• Hip Hop Teachers
• Belly Dance Teachers
• Flamenco Teachers
• Polynesian, Hula, Pacific Teachers
• Line Dance Teachers
• Tap Teachers
• Square Dance Teachers
• Round Dance Teachers
• Scottish Dance Teachers

There are many kinds of social recreational dancing not being taught at this time in Long Beach; some are offered in neighboring cities and those will be integrated into the listing as we add them.

Ballrooom Dancing in Long Beach

Most of the Dance Studios in a city are "Ballroom (etc) Studios"; this generally means Ballroom, "Club Dancing", Salsa, etc.  And many of the Dance Teachers are "Ballroom (etc) Teachers". Most Ballroom Teachers also teach "Club" dancing and Salsa, etc. In our GoDanceLB.com listings we list the Ballroom-etc teachers in the "Ballroom" category.

Club Dancing in Long Beach

Some Dance Teachers focus on various Club Dances and develop those dances, dancers, dance events, and communities.

The difference between "Ballroom" dances and "Club" dances is not particularly important but it can be useful. "Ballroom" dances are those which are mostly done in a "Ballroom" setting as contrasted to those done mostly or previously-mostly in a "Nightclub" setting.

"Club" dances generally include, in no particular order: Country-Western, West Coast Swing, Hustle, Lindy, Steppin', and others. Salsa is also generally a "Club" dance.

Another, not particularly rigid or important, distinction between what has come to be distinguished most generally between "Ballroom" and "Club" dances is that the latter are seen as having been created and developed by dancers and 'people' as contrasted to the "dance masters". In today's dance scene these kinds of distinctions are effectively irrelevant.

In general, most "Club Dances" can be found in nightclubs and many "Ballroom Dances" (Foxtrot, Waltz, etc) can't. Of course this is the situation "today"; there was a day when Ballroom Dances were the primary dances in Nightclubs, for example the "Trot" dances, including the Foxtrot of Harry Fox, were invented in Nightclubs.

Salsa-Latin Dancing

The Salsa boom some years ago mainstreamed Salsa dancing to the extent that it is obviously the leading Latin dance. One result is that Ballroom studios now make it clear that what they teach are "Ballroom-Latin" dances - including Rumba, Cha Cha, Bolero, and other long-time "Ballroom-Latin" dances. Another element is that Salsa itself has been expanding and incorporating Mambo and other facets. Today "Salsa" is more and more "Salsa-PLUS" - Bachata, Cumbia, etc. Lots of wonderful dancing from which to choose to move your groove.

Samba/Brazilian Dancing in Long Beach

Samba is not part of the Salsa family but I'm including it in this group as a Latin dance. Samba has different versions and forms - Parade, Carnaval, Club, Ballroom.

The presence of SambaLa here makes Long Beach an important place in the Samba world.

Square, Round, Contra & Folk Dancing in Long Beach

Unfortunately there is almost no Square Dancing or Folk Dancing in Long Beach. There is also no Contra Dancing in Long Beach area.

There is some Square Dancing in a few Long Beach neighbor cities which I'll be adding to the list.

Long Beach does have a bit of Round Dancing at the Senior Center.

Urban Dancing in Long Beach

Hip Hop, Breaking, Krumping, etc is called "Urban Dance", "Street Dance", "Vernacular Dance".

The home of Urban Dancing in Long Beach is Homeland Cultural Center.

For reasons of saving space in the Categories, I've also included Exotic dancing with Urban Dancing.

Line Dancing in Long Beach

For some years Line Dancing disappeared and went underground but now it's beginning, little by little to grow again.

Tap for Adults in Long Beach

There is a little bit of Tap for Adults in Long Beach.

Belly Dancing in Long Beach

We're in a time of higher interest in Belly Dancing; which we all hope continues and grows. Long Beach has a growing Belly Dance leadership status.

Bollywood Dancing in Long Beach

Because of NDM the Long Beach area is on the Bollywood map.

Flamenco Dancing in Long Beach

Long Beach is fortunate to have showcases for Flamenco, and a resident event-creating Flamenco company.

Pacific Islands Dancing in Long Beach

There is a bit of Polynesian, Hula, Pacific Islands dancing in Long Beach.

Special Events

The Special Events we list are those which might, do. or should have some dancing included. And to my mind, that 'should have dancing' pretty much includes all festivals, celebrations, community events, fundraisers and most anything else.

"NCBR Dance"

The Nightclubs, Bars, Restaurants (NCBRs) of primary interest to GoDanceLB.com are those that specifically provide dancing opportunities; they have dance floors or dance areas, and people do dance and go there for the purpose of dancing or being in a place with dancing.

"NCBR Dance-cordial"

Nightclubs, Bars, Restaurants that are also of interest here are those where dancing does occur more than infrequently; they aren't particularly 'dance places', but people do dance there, and the management is generally cordial about it. These aren't places to 'go dance'.  These are places at which dancing is not the 'norm', but where you, or a few, can get up and dance; as contrasted to places where dancing is not particularly wanted or is discouraged.

"NCBR Concert"

Some Nightclubs, Bars, Restaurants (NCBRs) have music but do not have dancing; many places nowadays are 'concert style', listening, spectating, watching, and not dancing - totally strange to me; but everyone marches (dances) to (or 'watches') their own 'drummer'. Today many music places that are much smaller than concert halls or theaters are also just for 'watching' and 'spectating', rather than dancing. Go figure.

NCBRs that focus on concert-style music aren't put on our GoDanceLB.com Calendar, except if they have a dance-style event. While a little dancing does occur at some concert venues (including some places with mosh pits), they aren't 'places to go dance'.

Since this is a dance-focused site, I also put Karaoke in the category of 'Concerts' - they are essentially amateur-concerts. Some Karaoke places in other areas are also Dance-cordial, and a few encourage dancing. I'm not digging into Karaoke places sufficiently to identify those; and I'm not listing Karaoke-only places that don't have any Dance or Dance-cordial nights.

If you're into Karaoke at all, you'll already be aware of Karaoke Scene, the free newspaper that is well distributed at Karaoke places, and which now has an improved online site (except that many Karaoke places/events in the Long Beach area are not getting themselves listed in Karaoke Scene, and some places that are long gone are still listed there).

At this time I'm unaware of any Dance-welcoming Karaoke place/event in Long Beach area; and would love to list, and go to, any that you might know.

Dance Bands & Concert Bands

Nowadays most bands play for spectators, not for dancers   
So it's most likely that a live band is concert style.
But not all bands are for watchers; some are dance bands  

Some dance places book bands for dancers. Starting Gate on Katella is a great example of this since the dance floor is full on Fridays & Saturdays. A few other LB-area places with dance floors book bands for dancing but the floors are rarely full.

Some bands play music that gets the particular crowd dancing.
Some bands play music that doesn't get the people dancing; and some of those bands want it that way.

I've seen many bands that keep the crowd dancing; and some others that can't get anyone up, or that can thin out a dance floor.

Dance DJs & Atmosphere DJs > Music for Gabbing

Most DJs play for dancing. But nowadays a growing trend is DJs for atmosphere; not just music from some anonymous source such as radio, internet, tape, etc, but a DJ playing music for talking. Sort of like replacing the electric fans to keep the air moving with specialized people to wave hand-fans.

There are some places with DJs playing atmosphere music in the Long Beach area. And this isn't "dinner music", much of what they play is dance music. Sad, IMO of course, that we've come from dance music for dancing, to dance music for spectating, to dance music for sitting on your butt. [One of these days I'll have to see if any academic discussions related to this sort of thing exist; like culture studies perhaps.]

NCBR Spreadsheet

Spreadsheet of NCBRs by Day of Week (by GoDanceLB.com)

NCBR Dance opportunities on various evenings

In our GoDanceLB.com Listings there are more than 40 listings in NCBR Dance and more than a dozen each in NCBR Dance-cordial and NCBR Concert.  Putting the 40+ NCBR Dance places on our GoDanceLB.com Calendar is too many and destroys workability and readability of the Calendar.

Since some NCBRs are very well promoted and are listed almost anywhere you might look, the best solution is for GoDanceLB.com to focus on the less visible and the most unique and interesting, and to complement the best other listings that already exist. Some of the other calendars provide day-by-day listings of specific DJ's, Bands and promoter-nights.

The best way to find information on NCBR Dancing is to see what we have on our Calendar, to check our Listings section for NCBR Dance, click through to the NCBR website(s), check your favorite other websites for events, calendars, what to do, nightlife, etc.

Some of the newspaper calendars list the particular acts for the day at the club; for example, see District Weekly Calendar.

NCBR's on GoDanceLB.com > Calendar

The NCBRs which are listed in GoDanceLB.com Calendar in some way include a few which are quite unique in the LB area:

• Sky Room  (dinner dancing; nothing like it in the area)
• Phil Trani's  (a date-place with a band [Flashback] that plays for dancers)
• Cowboy Country  (Country Western; nothing like it in the area)

Others listed in our Calendar are types of dancing found outside of NCBRs (Salsa, Swing, ...), or not much available (Reggae), or are dance places with bands that play for dancers (Starting Gate, and Cellar at times), or are performance-dancing (Flamenco) of some interest to social recreational dancers:

• Alegria    (Flamenco & Salsa)
• Sevilla     (Flamenco & Salsa)
• Cohiba    (Reggae & Salsa)
• Shore   (Salsa)
• PCH Club     (Swing, Salsa, Hustle)
• Starting Gate      (freestyle, full dance floor)
• Cellar  (special dance events)

Benefits of GoDanceLB.com Approach to NCBR Calendar

The benefits of this approach include:

• GoDanceLB.com focuses specifically on Dance opportunities in the LB area, and no one else does
• GoDanceLB.com does not depend on the particular dance places to bring the events to our attention (in contrast to the music listings in newspapers, we do not wait to be contacted), so we are comprehensive and complete
• GoDanceLB.com particularly pays attention to the many dance opportunities which are not otherwise publicized and are therefore effectively invisible and lost in the smoke of high-cost publicity
• You can start with GoDanceLB.com for the interesting dance opportunities and then look to the broader media for the music details; or
• You can start with the broader media for the most publicized events and then look to GoDanceLB.com for the dance opportunities that most in LB miss out on
• Our aim is to complement the high-publicity media and to fill in the gaps that they miss in social recreational dance opportunities; and to thereby nurture dance vendors and dancers, and to grow social recreational dancing (Vision & Mission statements at GoDance.biz) 

Madison

Madison Restaurant  > "On Friday and Saturday evening, we have a piano player playing our beautiful grand piano.  The musician usually starts playing around 7:30pm "

Dine and dance; one of the too-few places in LA metro area where that's possible (but at times Madison moves the Grand piano onto the dance floor leaving little room for dancing).

102 Pine Ave, Long Beach, CA 90802

Alegria

Alegria  /  Alegria MySpace

Good dancing, but tiny floor / a primary focus is Flamenco shows
Entertainment Line Up

115 Pine Ave, Long Beach, CA 90802

Mariposa

Mariposa (the dance place) has been replaced by George's Greek Cafe which moved from up the street into this much larger space (and also opened one on 2nd St)

Sevilla

Sevilla  / Sevilla Nightclub  /  Sevilla MySpace

Flamenco Shows

140 Pine Ave, Long Beach, CA 90802

Smooth's

Smooth's  /  Events page

144 Pine Ave, Long Beach, CA 90802

Tony C / Tony Cee

Tony C is a Long Beach focused DJ, Promoter, Salsa Teacher

Club Mariposa / Mariposa Ultra Lounge / Casa Azul

Long Beach Salsa Club

Cohiba

Cohiba  /  Cohiba MySpace

Serious dance place; 7 days
weekly schedule

110 E Broadway, Long Beach, CA 90802

Wasabi

Wasabi  / Wasabi MySpace

200 Pine Ave, Long Beach, CA 90802

Aladdin's

search is not turning up a myspace or website

200 N Pine, Long Beach CA