Lindy Central

Lindy Central is a great venue to learn swing dancing and practice after the classes… Or just come and dance if you’re already an advanced swing dancer.
The Burlingame Woman’s Club is a great venue, spacious dance floor with a very good wooden floor (a previous comment about the floor is really not accurate anymore)
The music is usually a bit faster and higher energy than other swing dance venues in the Bay Area so you might see a jam circle form during the night with some pretty impressive aerials here and there.
People are super friendly and the teachers are the best you can get (Carla Heiney is one of the most famous swing dance teachers in the world and she brings in other world renown instructors for the classes).
Pretty much the best way to spend your Tuesday evening :)

The beginning classes were fun and the social dances were great. It’s cool that Redwood City has this little venue. I hope to return for more swinging!

ANother amazing venue by Carla. I wish I could come out and plat every week! The classes are great no matter what level you are at. Plus there is dancing pretty much all night. People are always really nice as well. The teachers will dance with you and encourage to keep learning.
Wonderful place! Woot

I need Swing Central in my life. So much so that I’ve given in and started keeping a car in SF just so I can drive down to Redwood City once a week. This may not sound like such a big deal, but I live in a neighborhood where parking is sparse and meter maids love their job, where permits are enforced until 9 pm, even on Saturdays.
The teachers here are fun and inspiring. The crowd that comes for the social dance is cool, and patient! I’m hooked. Best classes and best venue for learning lindy hop.

I have been coming to Swing Central for the past month to learn how to swing dance and it’s been so much fun. I took the Fundamentals of Lindy Hop and with my salsa dancing background, it has made it easy to pick up, but I still have much to learn.
After two hours of classes, they have a social dance and that’s where the fun begins. The crowd is nice and very patient for a beginner like me. I try to dance as much as I can and it helps to dance with someone who is much more advanced. Well, at least for me it does.
I recommend taking an entire series instead of individual classes and also try to sign up early to get early bird discounts. It can be a little pricey for drop-​ins. If you take classes, the social dance is free or you pay $ 8 at the door.

I’ve been swing dancing for over two years. Swing Central is my favorite swing dancing venue! They have a world class instructor and dancer, Carla Heiney.
The classes are organized and taught very well. They have beginner, intermediate, and intermediate/​advanced classes. I recommend signing up for an entire series.
The crowd is very nice and fun. If you live in the Bay Area or even if you are just visiting, you should drop by Swing Central.

Swing Central is my favorite swing dance in the Bay Area, by far. I just wish it weren’t so far away on the Peninsula! I came for the first time in January, and couldn’t stay away, despite the hour-​long trip each way; since February I’ve been taking a class series each month, and of course staying for the social dance. (Once I’ve made the trip down there, I want to get in as much dancing at possible!)
There are four classes each Tuesday night, two at 7:00 and two at 8:00, and then for the first hour of the dance there’s a low-​key help session in the smaller room for people with questions from any of the classes. The classes always seem to cover a variety of levels and topics: basic Lindy Hop, Charleston, and Balboa; intermediate and advanced variations on a theme like swingouts, musicality/​connection, cool show-​off moves, etc.; and performance routines. There are a variety of people teaching the classes, too, including locals and some visiting from out of town — a lot of really great dancers and great teachers.
The dance is from 9:15ish to 11:30, with a rotating cast of DJs. Compared to what I hear at other dances, the music tends to be older (classic swing, Dixieland, jump blues, early doo-​wop…) and the tempos a bit faster, with a good danceable variety each night. The main room is great for dancing, with a large and very smooth floor (good for slides!), built-​in benches along most of the walls, and a mirror on one side.
The crowd is mostly very friendly, with a wide range of ages and skill levels, and many of the regular dancers are kind about asking nervous beginners and newcomers to dance. In general there seems to be a lot more smiling and lighthearted trying out of new moves than at other dances — the mood is playful, and people always seem happy to be dancing. There are some intimidatingly good dancers here whom I would never dare ask to dance, but who are a lot of fun to watch and learn from.

Compliments to Carla and the gang for providing a great time out on a Tuesday night!

I believe that SwingCentral has moved since the other reviews were written. The floor seems great to me.
As a novice Swing Dancer, I’ve found Swing Central to be a fun place to learn. The fundamentals classes run at a great pace with good instructors. The social dancing afterwards is fun and even advanced dancers are willing to be patient with those just learning.
Now I just need to practice what I’m learning.

Swing Central is a great venue. The floor can be spotty but the teachers there are top notch and the crowd is cool. But seeing as I don’t have a car and the music is generally too classic for my tastes, the odds of seeing me here often is low. I have a hard enough time getting out to dance in my own city. Unfortunately that means I rarely get to dance with all my South Bay dancers. Which is sad because they rock.

I’m a regular at Swing Central. It has the best swing dancing in the area. I can go through the entire night with amazing dances. They have amazing instructors that have unbelievable moves to teach and also really help enforce the fundamentals. Taking a series on just the swingout improved my dancing connection a thousand-​fold. There’s always food and it’s just always a fun experience. The people are friendly, funny, and best of all great dancers!

This is a good place to go if you are into swing dancing. The dance floor is surprisingly really really big. There is a nice area for people to sit and relax if they are tired from dancing, too.
I love how Swing Central provides free water, cookies, and grapes! That is definitely a highlight when I go to Swing Central. I know other places don’t provide anything.
The people here are all really friendly. Everyone is always smiling. =)

I love, love, love, love Swing Central!!!
I started taking lessons and dancing there about 3 or 4 years ago (can’t remember exactly since time flies when you’re having fun). I took Kevin St. Laurent and Carla Heiney’s performance class and it was one of the best experiences for me because of their level of dance expertise and their teaching methods.
Over the years, I have continued to take various classes at Swing Central from Carla and other guest instructors who come from all over the states (and the world) to teach at Swing Central. The social dancing scene at Swing Central is definitely friendly for both beginners and advanced dancers! The floor is packed with smiling faces!
I live in San Francisco and have to wake up early on Wednesday mornings for work, however, the drive to and from Redwood City is totally worth it for the awesome dancing. :-)

Im first responding to Candices review, THE FLOOR QUALITY AT SWING CENTRAL HAS IMPROVED. I do know what you are talking about and had the same concerns. but this week when I went the floor was beautiful to dance on. I have to say this venue is run by a dedicated team of folks that really care about the «dancers experience»
I personally bought the sticky dance floor issue to the attention of the team running the event, and within a week it was resolved. I found out later that it was not the owners of Foster City Hall that cleaned up the floor and made the floor quality great, but the oporatiing team!!! talk about dedication…
The classes run at Swing Centreal by Carla Heiney are always very well planned & thought out, she is an excellent instructor and apart from being a superb dancer herself she has the ability to dumb down or hype up what she knows about Swing Dancing and dancing as a whole. I think that SC has such a great caliber of dancers because Carla is always bringing in exceptional visiting instructors to add an additional flavor to the mix, she has had teachers from France, England and the famous Nick Williams (choreographer from «So you think you can dance») to mention a few
The oporating team are always thinking of new ways and things to keep the dancers experience a fun one. They are always having some kind of free raffle give aways, local dance competitions, performances from local dance teams, best dressed, performance class oportunitys, Live Bands and the list goes on… You will never have the feeling that it is the same old, same old I am always looking forward to Tuesday nights at Swing Central.
My dancing at this venue has grown leaps and bounds since I started going.
My two cents :)

I started going here when I moved to the area, and I’ve only missed one week. Swing Central keeps me coming back. Love the classes — my skills have vastly improved since I’ve been taking them, though much more in the thematic classes than in the «master’s series» classes (no connection between classes, so it’s easy to forget what you learned). I’ve also managed to make a few friends here, which is great since I’m new to the area.
To be completely fair, I didn’t have a lot of dancing experience before I came out here, but of the handful of venues I’ve been to, I definitely find this to be the best.

Oh Swing Central…
I had such high, high hopes…
I blame myself a little for not wearing the appropriate shoes. I can’t take all the blame for the shoddy condition of this floor, however. Sticky, gummy and filthy, i found myself pivoting instead of turning every time i was thrown into a twirl. even the dancers with real dance shoes were having a hard time doing a classic slide.
Invite me back when you fix the hardwood… I would even consider taking classes as Carla seemed to be a top-​notch instructor, the visiting band was fantastic and the dancers were fun and open (very comfortable for a single to visit).

So I’m a swing dancer from San Diego that moved up to the East Bay Area for school. I set aside one night a week to go dancing for my sanity and this is where I go. There’s everyone there from beginners to pro’s and the scene is definitely awesome. I recently visited fellow dance friends back in SD and they were amazed at the improvement I’ve made since I’ve moved.
Free water and snacks and it’s definitely worth the drive.

This place is fantastic! If I lived closer to Redwood City I would still go there. My husband and I took lessons from Kevin and Carla for a little over a year… it was to prep for our wedding but we continued going afterwards. The lessons are great and dance partners are usually pretty great too. Every once in a while you get a weirdo dance partner but isn’t everyone a little strange? We even started bring a friend with us to the lessons because she loved to dance and we all had a blast. We always stayed for the dance party afterwards and Carla always tries to keep it fun, interesting and friendly.

Great place for swing dancing. Like Jeff K said. Even attracts some people from the city and east bay, because these days at least, it is The place to go. Free water and snacks. Layout is good — main dance floor opens onto side area where you can put your things or chat between dances. Very open feeling.

One of the THE lindy hop swing nights in the Bay Area. And one of two very good swing nights in the South Bay. People are friendly. The classes are good. The floor is reasonably spacious. They occasionally have a live band. There are also workshops outside the normal dance night from time to time. Classes from 7 – 9:10pm (sometimes with a class starting at 6pm; check the website). Dancing from 9:15pm to 11:30pm. $ 6 for only the dance. $ 15/​$ 15 for a class and dance.
The other lindy night in the South Bay is at Steppin’ Out in Sunnyvale on Wednesday nights hosted by Trevor and Megan.
Update (Dec 2007): The folk who organize Swing Central are starting up a new monthly swing dance on the 2^nd Saturday of each month called the Rhythm Lounge. The grand opening is Saturday, 12 January 2008. Check it out: