Swing Dancing San Diego

This is NOT a review of the Swing Dancing San Diego. This is the review of the «Free to $ 5 Swing Dance» party they run. Unilocal staffers keep messing up the title, I tried to communicate to them, but failed :-(
This is the regular swing dance venue that goes on monthly (or bi-​weekly) in the Veteran’s Museum in Balboa Park. Typically it happens on the last Friday of the month, although it is can also occur on the first Friday of the next month (the next dance is on May 15^th, 2015, the schedule is at
).
The museum is an interesting place by itself, the main hall is used for the dance. The wooden dance floor is spacious and is in relatively good condition. The ventilation is inadequate, so it becomes quite hot on even moderately warm days; dress accordingly. Ample free parking is available in the front of the museum right off the Park Blvd. The water fountain is in the back on the right next to the restrooms, so a reusable water bottleis convenient. On one of the days I have attended, a coffee track was parked next to the entrance, and bottled water was available for $ 2, but this is not typical.
One of the attractions of the venue is its very low cost: the students are allowed in for free (a donation is requested, but not mandatory). At $ 5 the general admission is a bargain too, as it includes an hour-​long lesson at 7PM and a three-​hour dance party afterwards (DJ music). As appropriate for the location, music and lessons were geared toward lindy (note the Balboa-​only comment below). Sometimes the dance goes to the live music, the admission on these night can be as high as $ 20 at the door.
The two lessons start in parallel, one is geared towards beginners, the other one is good for intermediate dancers (and might be too tough for the advanced beginners). On the day I have attended, a brief self-​evaluation test was suggested for the ones going to the intermediate lesson. The intermediate lesson was excellent.
The crowd was about 40 – 50 people (significantly thinning as the dance went on), with follows slightly outnumbering the leads, a typical situation for San Diego. Compared to other venues, the dancers were somewhat younger on average (still, quite a few «mature» folks like me); level of skills varied greatly from absolute beginners to advanced with more beginners than usual. The crowd is decidedly smaller and more experienced on Balboa nights, so check the schedule above and consider yourself forewarned.
This monthly party directly competes with the Swing Dance Now that occurs weekly on Fridays. Main advantages for Swing Dance Now: the working air conditioning, free snacks, better overall ambiance. Main advantages for this venue: lower cost and larger crowd (on the night this dance happens, the crowd in the Dance for 2 studio becomes much smaller).