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Random question but how did you get into social dancing and where did you do it? I've wanted to get into that kind of dancing for so long but I don't know how to find a good venue :(

This is an excellent question, and I hope I can help! Quick disclaimer: all of this is based on my personal experience as someone who has mostly lived in urban areas in the US (I mostly consider myself a blues dancer but have danced a lot of swing and fusion).

I got into social dancing because a friend invited me out swing dancing in high school, and then I joined my college club. It's a really easy way to get into it, but not one available to most people outside of university. But since then, I've moved around plenty and had plenty of time out of the scene, so I've had to research ways to get involved, and there are a few ways to start:

Do an online search for the kind of dance you want in your area (I'll do some brief descriptions of those too) and find a place nearby that has a dance at a time you can make it. Most places give a free half hour lesson beforehand (with the cover charge for the evening), and plenty of experienced dancers join in (they often schedule them between the more advanced classes and the open dance). You don't (usually) need to bring a partner, people are usually very welcoming, and I've found you can learn a lot about what you enjoy from even just one evening. And the free lesson usually includes the hosts telling everyone what the proper etiquette is around asking people to dance (usually it's just go up and ask and respect people's no's). If that dance doesn't work for you, try another one, or a different theme night (if they have them)

Do an online search for lessons. Group lessons are great, and most social dances don't require you to come with a partner. This can be a great way to learn without the social pressures of an open dance. Look for one that emphasizes learning social dance and not a routine, if that's what you're interested in. This is more of a commitment (usually 4 or more sessions) and usually a little pricier than trying put one free lesson and an evening of dance, but it will give a more solid foundation. I recommend lessons attached to a regular social dance or a dance studio as opposed to a university just because the university classes are all over the place on quality and intent.

Go to places that have the kind of music you want to dance to and ask around. I’ve never tried this because I’m terrible at talking to strangers, but I know people who do this.

Not a place to find a venue, but you can start with lessons on YouTube - this is also a great way to practice skills.

Regardless of which route you go, think about what you're looking to get out of it: are you looking for a fun workout? Making new friends? A specific type of music? Learning a new skill? Social dance is great for all of these, but different events might have different foci. I also just want to warn that every community is different, and sometimes you might have to travel farther to find a different type of dance or just a different vibe. I’ve been places where the local dance is a little too advanced for my skills, places where I just didn’t like their music selection, and places where I just felt awkward and didn’t make any friends, but I’ve also been places where I was actively welcomed, where people met me at my level, and where I heard music I fell in love with. If the first place you try isn’t great, try another!

Cost can also be prohibitive - sometimes venues will have a beginner’s night where it’s cheaper than usual, or you can look for a place with a sliding payment scale. If you’re a student, there are usually also student or local discounts. If distance is an issue, you can try to find friends to carpool with. When I was in grad school, we had a small local scene, and then sometimes people carpooled to go to a bigger dance in one of the bigger cities a few hours away.

Because this has become a long, long post, I’m putting a break here. After the break is a description of some common social dance conventions (what does follow/lead mean? do I need to come with a partner?) and some types of social dance.

A lot of social dance is partner dancing, but usually there are opportunities for some solo dancing, and sometimes there are semi-choreographed line dances you can learn and join in on (Shim Sham, Big Apple, Tranky Doo). At most social dances, you don’t need to bring a partner, and it’s expected that even if you do come with a dance partner that you’ll dance with others (but you’re welcome to say no to anyone who asks). Dancing with lots of different partners helps you learn new moves, practice the ones you do know in different ways, and meet new people.

Most partner dances have two roles: a leader and a follower. Both are a lot of fun and allow some improvisation. The leader leads the dance by guiding what steps and moves you’ll dance through different signals depending on the type of dance (body movements, changes in the connection point (hands, shoulder, waist, etc.), guidance from a hand, etc.). The follower follows the motions of the leader. How this happens depends on the dance itself as well as the individual dancers, and will be taught in the lessons. You can choose which role you want to dance for the evening, or even switch between them (although I recommend choosing a role for an evening and trying it out your first time). Some lessons will have you choose one role for the lesson and some lessons are taught ELEF, or everyone leads, everyone follows, where you switch off to learn both parts. Plenty of people choose one role and stick to it, but plenty of people switch regularly or every once in a while. I started as a follow and then started leading when there weren’t enough leads and then started doing beginner classes as a lead and intermediate classes as a follow to strengthen both.

There are also lots of different types of social dance. Here is a list of some of them with a few notes from my personal experience (I am definitely biased):

Swing dancing: swing dance is a huge group of dances that are often under one umbrella. I recommend looking up some videos of each, but here's some basics:

East Coast swing is what a lot of people learn first in swing dance, and it’s sometimes taught as a kind of basic dance, but really it’s just a 6-count swing, and it’s very flexible. There are a lot of variations and cool moves and it melds really nicely with a lot of other varieties of swing.

Lindy Hop is the kind that a lot of people associate with throwing people around and stuff (like in Hellzapoppin’), but it’s also increasingly one of the more common varieties of swing on the social dance floor (without the aerials - it’s impolite to do that on a crowded dance floor). It’s an 8-count swing, and a lot of places have started doing it in their beginner lessons. Can be combined with moves from East Coast and others, like.

Charleston, which has a few varieties and is usually (these days), is not done much on it’s own in social dance but as part of East Coast or Lindy, or as solo dance.

West Coast swing is a bit different. While many “swing dances” will include East Coast, Lindy, and Charleston in a big mish mash (usually done to big band swing or similar music), West Coast is either it’s own event or connected with fusion or tango, and can be done to more classic swing music or something more modern (not that you can’t Lindy to modern music). It was born out of crowded dance halls and is danced more along a narrow line of space rather then around in circles, and features smoother, more languid movements.

Balboa is very popular in California, especially in Southern California, where it comes from. It’s a lot of fancy-looking footwork and is danced much closer than most other swing.

Blues dancing has a lot of connections with swing in most places - I learned it as the dancing you do when you’re all tuckered out from a night of Lindy, but I’ve come to appreciate it more on it’s own. Like blues music, there is a huge variety of blues dance, from slinky and sexy closed position dancing to athletic blues with lots of swings and dips to solo dance. Blues is my favorite, and I could talk about it for forever. It’s about connection and improvisation and the music (like a lot of social dance), and it’s the kind of music I like best as well as a style of dance with a lot of options and a lot of history.

Fusion is a term that covers a lot of things and is exactly what it says on the label: a fusion of dance styles and music genres. At fusion dances I’ve done everything from blues to West Coast to tango to salsa to contact improv with a whole bunch of moves stolen from other dances thrown in, and I’ve danced to all sorts of music. It’s a grab bag and can be a great intro to social dance and/or a little overwhelming.

Tango/Ballroom I put together because I’ve never gone to either a Tango or a Ballroom social dance, and most of my Ballroom knowledge is Tango stuff that I’ve learned from Blues and Fusion dancers. I don’t know much about the scene or the terminology, but I know social dances often offer free lessons beforehand. Since there are so many dances that are part of Ballroom, I think they sometimes call out what kind of dance each song is.

Salsa includes a lot of variation I don’t know about, but is a fairly common dance to find. There are lots of clubs and bars that have salsa dancing, but not all of them have lessons, so find one with a beginner lesson. There’s several different dances that usually fall under salsa as well as different types of music (like swing) and different dance events might focus on different styles, so it’s worth trying out several.

Country Line Dancing is very common in bars depending on where you’re at (at least in the US), and sometimes involves lessons. It’s more likely to be routines to specific songs, but there is also partnered dancing involved. I’ve never done it myself, but it looks like fun.

Contra/Square Dancing is usually done to folk music and is done in pairs/groups of 4 in big lines. The moves are called out by a caller over the music, and they usually do a basic lesson beforehand. There is lots of spinning, and unfortunately, even when I was in great shape, it was terrible on my bad knee because apparently I can’t spin like that for an extended period of time. It’s very fun though and my friends wear lots of spinny skirts.

I’ve linked some videos in this post, and I recommend checking out more at your leisure, but you might want some terminology. I also caution that a lot of videos out there are either lessons or competitions or showcases, so it’s a lot of professionals or very good amateurs showing off, and that’s not really what a social dance usually looks like. But here’s some terms (mostly from swing and blues):

Jack & Jill - a competition format where people enter as individuals (either as lead or follow) and are paired randomly. They may have danced together tons of times before or never before. They’re usually given a bit of a warm up to get a feel for things before the judging begins, and they don’t know the music ahead of time.

Strictly - a competition format where dancers enter as pairs. They are usually regular dance partners. They usually don’t know the music selections ahead of time.

All Skate - In many dance competitions the pairs will start and or end with everyone dancing on the floor, more like a social dance, and then each pair gets a chance to show off.

Open/Invitational/All Star - open is open to everyone (sometimes at different skill levels), invitationals are by invitation only (so usually a higher level of skill), and All Stars are usually the pros/semi-pros. Sometimes they’re instructors at an event or just big names. The levels help keep the different competitions a little more fair.

Showcase - usually a choreographed routine

I...wrote a lot. I hope that was helpful! I am happy to talk about dance at any time, and I can definitely point towards more specific resources if you want. I’m happy to DM about it too.

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