Santa Cruz West Coast Swing Club

The Santa Cruz West Coast Swing Dance Club has been an active member of the Bay Area dance community for many years. We, like most dance clubs, had to pause our events during the pandemic. We are very excited to have started our dances again and will keep tuned to local heath officials and our community members for safety.

Our club board has changed a bit. We are hoping to recharge the local swing community with more current music and bringing in teacher for every dance. We very much want to encourage new participants and are open to any thoughts or suggestions to that effect.

Please encourage any friends/family that might be interested to come in and try our newcomers/beginner lesson at 6:30 - just before the dance. The lesson is included in the admission fee. We teach a very broad-stroke lesson in order to get anyone enough an understanding to join in the social dance. The learning curve for West Coast Swing is a bit steep - we want folks dancing as soon as possible.

West Coast Swing is a lead-follow partner dance that is slotted with the follow moving up and down the slot and the lead essentially directing from the center. West Coast Swing is danced to just about any music (except maybe waltz). Much of the music that is danced to is contemporary. This is one of the few dances that is evolving with the changes in contemporary music. Along with the evolution of styling to new music - the acceptance of lead and follow as gender neutral roles has opened up opportunities for growth and understanding for all dancers. Also - the development of role-switching within dances. threesome dances, and “sealing” (leads or follows jumping in and our of a partner dance) has made a opportunities for lots creativity.

As a club - we feel that there are a lot of folks in the Santa Cruz area that would love to get involved with this amazing dance. Please let us know if you have any ideas about growing our dance community - Please email us!!