Social Dancing

7 Day Dance Challenge

May 17, 2019

Michelle

The Challenge: To go out dancing around Adelaide every day for 7 days straight. Yep.

Where Did This Come From? I was speaking to one of our newer members and she commented;

‘It’s a bit of a shame that there’s nowhere to really use this kind of dancing (ballroom/latin/rocknroll) in Adelaide these days’

My Reaction? (**WHAT??!!?!?!***)

Those of us already in the dance community are often overwhelmed with options every week. Regardless of whether it’s ballroom, swing, rock ‘n roll or Latin there is somewhere you can go and dance, you just need to know where to look! So how can I help to make dancers aware of the options…?

Answer: Show them!

I have made lists before, mentioning all of the different venues and dance nights that are on but I thought this challenge would be more fun!

I will go out dancing in Adelaide every day, for 7 days straight, and document it.

No one can ever again argue that there’s ‘nowhere to go and dance’ in our beautiful city. Done.

Here’s the result…

Day 1

Sunday 26th May

The Avoca Hotel

Sunday afternoons are made for Rock ‘n Roll dancing at The Avoca Hotel. Yes, it was cold, rainy and horrible but that actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise!

The cool breeze that occassionally came through the beer garden and on to the dance floor was an absolute relief for the hot and sweaty dancers that had taken to the floor.

Cool Rockin Daddy’s were in fine form and plugged QuickSteps a few times, even inviting us to do a line dance for them at one point.

So if you’re looking for somehwere to dance on a Sunday we can highly recommend the Avoca from 2pm-6pm with free live music, heated beer garden and large dance floor. The meals are very nice too, so why not stay for dinner? 🙂

After 4 hours of rock n roll I was exhausted and went straight home to rest my feet. Some dancers headed straight to the next event; the monthly instalment of Bachata By The Beach.

Day 2

Monday 27th May

The Lion Hotel

I wont lie to you… Monday night is the hard one. Adelaide is still a little limited when it comes to Monday night events but I was determined to make it happen!

I headed down to The Lion Hotel where they had Brian Ruiz playing chilled, acoustic tunes in the front bar.

It was very quiet and Adam and I were the only dancers there. This meant we had plenty of space and could even request songs if we wanted to! Brian is very clever and can basically play.. anything!

So if you’re looking for somewhere to go and practise with your partner (or a small group of ‘dance friends’) with live music playing in the background and PLENTY of space on the dance floor head to The Lion Hotel Mondays from 6pm-9pm and put on a show for Brian. 🙂

The other option might be The Grace Emily Hotel on Waymouth Street. I haven’t been for 6 months or so but they have regularly had Billy Bob’s BBQ Jams there which is an open mic night. Depending on who is playing what… you could possibly get away with practising a few rock n rolls or rumbas in the crowd there too.

Day 3

Tuesday 28th May

Para Hills Community Club

The Para Hills Community Club have their own group of rock n roll dancers that have been meeting and dancing every Tuesday for many many years. That’s them in the red and black t-shirts.

They start the night at 8pm with a free class. They are teaching ‘pub rock’ style rock n roll. There are two instructors that wander around the floor visiting each couple and helping them with their moves.

There is an interesting system used. Beginners through to advanced seem to be in the same class and are divided up by where they are on the floor. Beginners are down one end and after 6 weeks or so they start moving along the floor closer to the top.

This was only the second time I had danced ‘pub rock’ and I was very lucky to be asked to dance multiple times by some lovely gentlemen there. Thank you Ralph and Ashley! Towards the end I was starting to get the hang of it!

If Para Hills is a bit of hike for you why not try the Adelaide Rock ‘n Roll Club?

They also run a regular Tuesday night social dance from 7:30pm-10:30pm at the Anzano Club, 2 Chief St, Hindmarsh. Live rock ‘n roll bands play for the 3 hours stint and they are generally the same 4-5 bands that you’ll catch at The Avoca Hotel on a Sunday afternoon.

Day 4

Wednesay 29th May

The Lion Hotel

Ask any ballroom/Latin dance enthusiast and they’ll tell you that every Wednesday night we really are spoilt for choice.

Lost In the 50’s at the Britsih Working Mans Club ($5)

Kit Kat Swing Club the last Weds of the Month (free)

Pachanga Nights at Casablsbla on Leigh Street for salsa (free)

This particular Wednesday though I really wanted to find something new and I’m so glad I did! Back to The Lion Hotel to groove to the sweet, funky, folkey tunes of Proton Pill.

This band are sensational! The best part? At one point Eric ‘tooch’ Santoochi (singer) even hopped off the stage to have a dance with me! It turns out he’s a ‘pub rocker’ from way back!

There were a small group of QuickSteppers that had come along to join Mikaela, Caitlin and I for a boogie. We danced the night away with random dancers from 4 or 5 others school/organistations. There were lots of familiar faces in the crowd 🙂

Once the band had a break so did the dancers!

We mainly danced rock n roll, swing, slow salsa and rumba. Jen and I even managed to sneak in the worlds smallest cha cha. #floorcraft

Day 5

Thursday 30th May

Kent Town Hotel

Hot Latin Nights at the Kent Town Hotel is one of Adelaide’s most reliable and consistant Latin nights thanks to Judi.

It’s also one of the only Latin nights that features kizomba as well as salsa and bachata.

Head up the stairs, round the corner and through the big red tunnel. Yes, it’s weird but as you get further down the tunnel you’ll start to hear the sweet salsa, bachata, kizomba tunes and it’s worth it.

Only $5 entry, good crowd and a warm and friendly organiser. Nice floor to dance on and generally enough space to try and funky moves you’ve been working on in class.

This now not the only option on a Thursday. Tank Bar on Gouger Street have just announced a Latin night that will be held every Thursday from 9pm, $10 entry.

Day 6

Friday 31st May

QuickSteps Dance|Club|Studio!

Every Friday at 9:15pm it’s time for ‘Dance With Me Friday’. This is a small, casual dance night where our QuickSteps members can dance, drink and relax with friends. It’s time to celebrate the end of another long working week and welcome in the weekend! This event is exclusively for QS members so please let us know if you’d like to come along and one of our Community Advisors will help you get involved.

At QS we use our ‘Dacne With Me Friday’ as a gentle introduction to social dancing. How?

There are fewer people meaning more space on the dance floor
There are lots of teachers to dance with
We call out the style of dance that matches the song so there’s no guess work
We generally play all beginner friendly songs that suit styles such as rock ‘n roll, rumba, waltz, tango and salsa

‘Dance With Me Friday’ was not the only option available this particular evening however. There was also

The monthly Friday night dance at The Walkerville RSL
A salsa night at the Casino (rooftop, Oasis Bar)
Salsa/Bachata night at The A Club on Waymouth Street

Day 7

Saturday 1st June

Rythym at The Fogular Furlan

Every 4-6 weeks you can head to The Fogular Furlan Center for Rhythym.

It’s a great event for anyone wanting to dance ALL of their styles of partner dancing. As the floor is huge they are able to play Latin, swing and ballroom without any concerns about floor space.

Ben had booked ahead for us to have 4 tables of 10 but… I think we’ll book more next time as we had roughly 60 QuickSteps members turn up in the end. When we arrived there were already about 20 Quicksteppers there.

Slowly more and more arrived and started to groove.

Entry is $20 at the door for non stop dancing from 8pm-12pm. Pretty good value really!

This was a top way to finish up my 7 days of dance but, once again, it was not the only option. Other events on that night that are dance friendly;

Union Hotel for Disco Night (not an organised salsa event but certainly a good place to dance and great music)
Mylk Bar for their weekly Latin Night
Latin Night at La Bocca on North Terrace (bottom of The Stamford Plaza)

So there you have it.

It’s possible to go out dancing every night in Adelaide somewhere. From waltz to rock ‘n roll to salsa and swing… it’s all out there, you just need to know where to find it and I hope my little experiment has helped!

Looking for somewhere to go dancing soon? Here’s just a handful off the top of my head.

Wednesdays Regularly

Pachanga Nights at CasaBlaBla

Thursday Regularly

Salsa and Latin Night at Tank Bar on Gouger Street 9pm

Hot Latin Nights with DJ Lobo at Kent Town Hotel (rroftop bar)

Fridays Regularly

Dance With Me Friday at the QuickSteps Studio 9:15pm-10pm. (If you’re not a member please let us know you’d like to come so we can check numbers and give you a VIP experience) 😉

Saturday 7th September

QuickSteps Dance Party 5:30pm-8:30pm (If you’re not a member please let us know you’d like to come so we can check numbers and give you a VIP experience) 😉