Barefoot Boogie

Barefoot Boogie– nice warm feel, friendly people who actually smile and talk to you (really!) and a great hardwood floor. Awesome music, space to be as crazy as you want (within reason), zero tolerance for creeps and people who do not know how to respect boundaries. No alcohol, no smoke or scents. Very unusual space. Oh, and no shoes! Do come for the experience, it’s something else. Just saying. And please, do not, I said, do not bring your grandmother. :)

I’ve been dancing at Barefoot Boogie, here in Berkeley semi-​regularly for several years. I love the fun variety of music and people that show up to this dance with their fully expressive selves.
Folks are friendly and inclusive, and after an hour of down-​tempo music where folks stretch and ‘drop-​into’ their bodies, the DJ picks up the beat and the party starts! In my dancing, I love to invite people to connect in duets, trios, or even larger constellations that loosely flow together, weaving in and out, sharing energy with each other, sometimes for several songs, sometimes just briefly. Together we create a sense of community and belonging.
There is a comfy couch in the studio facing the dance floor which provides a nice place to sit and chat with other dancers taking a break. And there is an area with a matt on the floor that serves as a chill space where folks can give and receive bodywork, or just stretch out and rest, often in physical contact with others.
It’s a friendly dance where you may receive a welcoming hug from the person at the door, and find enough space to move freely on your own as well as engage with others. It might just be the place you decide to come to dance regularly and become part of the Barefoot Boogie ‘family’.

Fun, free flow dancing to release energy… any dance moves goes… and you really do dance barefoot! All ages, no judgement in dance style!

Not sure I’ve ever been to Sunday night BB in Berkeley. Dropped in Sunday night as I saw in a listing that Zora was the DJ. Zora was superb, with inspired music choices and dancing continually herself by the DJ station. The dancers (not a large crowd, maybe 30) seemed to be mostly regulars who knew each other, but they were welcoming and inclusive of me as a newbie (which is not always true at dance gatherings as a tall male with grey hair). A wide range of ages, about balanced in gender — a delightful community.

I went into this night feeling exhausted from the long week and shopping all day. The cold and rain didn’t help much either but you can park right next to the main door easily in this safe neighborhood. I’m a freestyle ectstatic dancer, I dance at three different studios a week and I entered last night exhausted and damp from the rain.
As I came through the red curtain shear over the doorway at 7:45 PM I was immediately transformed into a room of twenty dancers doing yoga stretch warm-​up. I joined in and soon I was ready for a dance evening like I haven’t had in a long time. This venue does the slow start, fast middle, and medium speed wind down. I began my night with the stretch.
What followed can best be described as a wonderful warm dance energy where modern dance meets contact improv and barefoot boogie/​freestyle with some flamboyance of Ecstatic Dance thrown in. The DJ sets the mood. Tonight seemed romantic and warm with the heater cooking us away on a Sunday rainy night.
Thank you DJ Clari, and whatever theme that was last night, bring it back again. You were good, and even though this Monday morning I ache from all the leaping and stretching, I am inspired to write this in recognition of a wonderful way to start the week — recharged and cleaned out!