Help me give the gift of dance

December 17, 2007 12:06 PM

My girlfriend has made it pretty clear she wants dancing lessons for Christmas. Any recommendations for the San Jose, CA area?

Google lists plenty of places where we can learn how to dance, but I'd like to make sure that the place I pick is of high quality and was hoping that some Mefi members living near the bay could help me out with some top picks. There is no way I can go visit each place beforehand to check it out, and I'd still like to retain some of the surprise so I can't have her check it out either. Some additional info:

* Any kind of partner dance would be ok, but I think we are shooting for Dancing with the Stars-ish ballroom.

* I live in Fremont, she lives in Santa Clara. Since it is her present and my working hours can go a lot later than hers, I'd like to pick a spot closer to her so that if I have to bail she can still go by herself.

* Small-ish group lessons are ideal - see above.

Thanks for your help!

posted by Zaximus to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (4 answers total)

Funny, I was just thinking of posting an invitation/meetup thread about the Gaskell Ball and related events: the Friday Night Waltz New Year's Eve Ball, in Palo Alto, and the 12th Night Ball, by PEERS. All of these feature HOURS of instruction, and are an "event" as well as a great dance class. I have never taken classes outside of these events, and they got me started- and hooked!- on Victorian-style ballroom dance.
posted by wzcx at 1:41 PM on December 17, 2007

I don't have any experience with the club, but you could check out the Stanford Ballroom Dance Club. My friends who were involved enjoyed it greatly. It should also be pretty central to Fremont and Santa Clara.
posted by shinynewnick at 1:56 PM on December 17, 2007

http://www.starlitedanceclub.com/

I went there once for a free lesson. Much to my partner's chagrin, I wasn't into the whole rhythmic movement thing, but it seemed like a nice place.
posted by lalas at 2:38 PM on December 17, 2007

When I lived in Si Valley, I used to go to the Friday Night Dance - it's a large group mixer, so it might not be as intimate as you'd like. On the overall scale of dance lessons I've had, it's about middling.

There used to be a club off Lawrence Expressway that did a Sunday afternoon swing lesson and buffet dinner. I went with my girlfriend to that for several months until on a very, very hot Sunday the owner of the club was at the entrance and refused to let me in because I was wearing shorts and birks. From what I heard from other people, he was a dick to many of his customers, so I wasn't too surprised when I couldn't find it on club guides.
posted by plinth at 9:12 AM on December 18, 2007