Good, safe places for me to ballroom/Latin/swing dance in Portland?
May 6, 2015 8:54 AM Subscribe
Recently moved to Portland, OR. I'm an intermediate ballroom/Latin/swing dancer and I'm overwhelmed by the amount of choices here when I google. In particular I want a nice safe place where I won't get groped or hit on a lot...I'm 30 and a reasonably attractive woman. Where I used to live I basically gave up on social dancing because I couldn't go anywhere without getting groped, and stuck to my Arthur Murray like glue. Any dancers out there that can help me out?
I dance for fun, not to get groped, grabbed or hit on all night and I want your help avoiding places like that if I can, here in Portland. I'm interested in places that do social dancing either on the weekends or week nights. I like the kind where there's a mix of dance types (e.g. They'll play music for cha cha, and then a waltz, and then swing, etc). I'd also be open to one kind of dance type places too, such as a place that does only salsa. My favorite dances are hustle, west coast swing and salsa so bonus points for those. I'm skilled in pretty much any ballroom/Latin/swing/country western partner dance you can think of. I'm open to suggestions or anecdotes about places you've tried here, especially from the women of mefi. Oh as an aside, I'd be showing up alone sometimes too so please keep that in mind (haven't made dance friends here yet) although sometimes my non dancer of a boyfriend may tag along. Thanks much!
I dance for fun, not to get groped, grabbed or hit on all night and I want your help avoiding places like that if I can, here in Portland. I'm interested in places that do social dancing either on the weekends or week nights. I like the kind where there's a mix of dance types (e.g. They'll play music for cha cha, and then a waltz, and then swing, etc). I'd also be open to one kind of dance type places too, such as a place that does only salsa. My favorite dances are hustle, west coast swing and salsa so bonus points for those. I'm skilled in pretty much any ballroom/Latin/swing/country western partner dance you can think of. I'm open to suggestions or anecdotes about places you've tried here, especially from the women of mefi. Oh as an aside, I'd be showing up alone sometimes too so please keep that in mind (haven't made dance friends here yet) although sometimes my non dancer of a boyfriend may tag along. Thanks much!
I don't have first-hand knowledge, but I have some dancer friends in Portland who might be able to offer some recommendations. Check your MeMail!
posted by aka burlap at 2:59 PM on May 6, 2015
posted by aka burlap at 2:59 PM on May 6, 2015
I don't live in Portland, but I have friends who live there. When I visited I had a lot of fun at the Pdx Lindy Society dance that I went to.
I also had a great time at Stumptown Dance, which is another swing dance in the area.
posted by vegetableagony at 8:53 PM on May 26, 2015
I also had a great time at Stumptown Dance, which is another swing dance in the area.
posted by vegetableagony at 8:53 PM on May 26, 2015
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I go mostly to the bar side of the Secret Society but have seen a few shows on the ballroom side. We've been there for some of the Swing nights and I'd be completely comfortable being there alone / with a non-dancing partner. I have an ex-co-worker who is very involved in Swing/Ballroom dancing in Portland and he really liked some of the events at Secret Society so might be worth checking out. The nice part is if your boyfriend likes good beer or cocktails, Secret Society is a fantastic place to be. The bands playing for those nights were really fun to listen to (I like watching Swing dancing but haven't learned at all).
posted by ugf at 10:38 AM on May 6, 2015