Southside Preservation Association

Southside Preservation Association calls themselves the Fort Worth Swing Dance Headquarters, and I believe them. They have $ 5 Tuesday night swing dance lessons, beginner at 8:00p.m, intermediate at 9:45p.m, with music and dancing until 11:30. I have gone twice, and it is a major turnout (for FW!)! The dance instructors are helpful and informative, and they go through the material pretty slowly so you get the chance to pick up the moves. They teach everything a few times before putting on some music and letting you try it out. The building is beautiful — restored hall with amazing ballrooms and interesting hallways, rooms and courtyards around every bend. I believe they rent it out for weddings (see Rose Chapel).
Last night we learned the Balboa, which is a close dance, so that may be something uncomfortable if you aren’t the kind of person who likes to dance with strangers. You can come with or without a partner, and they have all of the women rotate around and dance with all the men (unless you don’t want to leave your partner — they let you stay together, which I thought was strange because everyone knows the best way to learn how to dance is to dance with LOTS of people). The music was fun and I got to practice all the moves after the lesson. I didn’t venture into the intermediate room yet.
This is a fun date and a good way to spend a Tuesday. The crowd was a little odd — a lot of high school kids and older people — but still some great dancers to practice with. Definitely the right place for some old fashioned, PG dancing, plus they serve up free water and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies!
From the looks of their website, First Friday’s seem like a blast — Buddy’s Big Band Dance (music of the 30’s and 40’s) for $ 12.50 at 7:30pm. I think I will check it out next week and come back with an update!