Beardsley’s Swing Dance Classes

Beautiful spacious dance floor. Can’t beat it.
«B» Street Boogie classes and social dancing every Wed — good deal for the price.
The crowd is largely 40 and over and the music sometimes leans toward an older crowd, but there are a mix of genres and eras. Dancers are mostly beginning to intermediate level.

My wife and I have been attending beginning dance lessons with instructor Dave here for about 3 months. The lessons are wonderful and Dave is very patient and encouraging. Everyone here is friendly and approachable. Highly recommend this neighborhood venue for West coast swing dance lessons.

AKA «Upstairs at beardsleys» in downtown San Mateo, CA.
The Best:
hardwood dance floors
great changing room bathrooms.
The Neggies:
Street parking. Did you pray and go to church this week? Well…
Here you can learn West Coast Swing WCS from some of the best.
For the most part the attendees are very warm and friendly. Of course, there’s a diva (male and female) in every crowd, but usually not at the beginners’ class area.
Nice little bar in the Italian American Social Club venue and pretzels galore. Drink LOTS of water. You’ll need it one you’re dancing.
After the class is a fun social dance time. Once you get to where you can join that, it’s a lot of fun, and people are very good about asking new people to dance.
For the MANY peeps who have danced here for years, we will celebrate YOUR birthday with cake and dancing.

So glad there’s a Top of Beardsley’s. I always find a lot of talented west coast swing dancers at the parties, and everyone’s friendly — you can enjoy a lot of fun dancing. All levels of dancers come however, there seems to be a dependable crew of excellent, devoted WCS dancers.
The last time I was there Michelle’s class was awesome. I was surprised how easily we got reviews and learned new moves. The music is good, they have a bar, parking has never been a problem, and downtown San Mateo has a lot of fun, convenient little cafes and food places for meet-​ups.
What a lucky break to have a club like this in the bay area.

Beardsley’s has one of the best dance floors in the area — good music, and a lot of fun people who just love to dance.
While mostly an older crowd, there’s always a few 20-​somethings in the mix.
Beardsley’s features West Coast Swing — a smooth, sensual dance that works well with any syncopated music: Latin, Contemporary/​Hip-​Hop, Blues/​Jazz… if you are just learning, Beardsley’s is a great place to start; if you just want to have fun dancing, stick around for the dance party at 9:00 — there are plenty of dancers of all levels there.
Parking is in short supply, so get there early!

Took my out of town dance friend Stacy to the Wednesday West Coast Swing dance at the Top of Beardsley’s. She hasn’t been there in years and commented, nothing has changed.
Still icey cold AC, street parking was easy at 9:30pm, usually you have a hard time finding parking but not as many dancers there as usual, around 100 – 150. The bathrooms are nicer, have been remodeled. Phil and Ed are still teaching the beginning and intermediate west coast swing classes and the average age still seems 40 – 70 yo!

Beardley’s holds west coast swing lessons every wednesday night in san mateo at the italian american social club. Beginners at 7 pm, Intermediate and advanced at 8 pm and open dance from 9 –11:30 pm. The classes are $ 10 and include excellent instruction and FANTASTIC music. there is a bar where you can buy drinks and enjoy delicious pretzels.
If (i mean WHEN) you go to this, you will be at least 30 years younger than anyone else there and this is true if you are anywhere under 50 years of age. i came with a dog rescue friend of mine who was down in the dumps and really wanted to get back into the swing (ha!) of things and needed a friend to motivate her and so off we went. when i walked in, i liked it immediately. i don’t mind being the youngest person in a situation and in fact, i rather enjoy it. everyone was very welcoming (the men especially… i don’t think i’ve been called a hot young thing so many times in the span of 3 hours. or EVER. but it wasn’t creepy… more fun and silly. i love old men. old men are THE BEST. they are classier, funnier and more interesting than their younger counterparts. and these fools can DANCE.) west coast swing is a lot smoother and less flashy than that lame ass east coast swing and you can dance it to pretty much any kind of music. by the end of the night, i knew five of the ten basic steps and was officially the bell of the ball. i’m telling you, my dance card was full all night! a brawl almost broke out over me but it never escalated into much because there is only so far a fight can go when it involves a cane and a walker. i’m KIDDING! i actually had a pretty fantastic time and will be going back.
shocker that i’m single, i know.
if you’re looking for a fun if not somewhat twilight zone-​ish experience, head on over to Beardley’s Swing Dance Classes at the beautiful Italian American Club in San Mateo. Don’t forget to save a dance for Mike and don’t be afraid to smack him if he gets fresh!