Dance Is Everything!
Dancing in the mid-Hudson Valley, NY (and nearby)
Look Ma, no hands!
A free-style swing dip with MYM, one of my favorite partners
people have waltzed through here since 2 March 1999.
WHAT'S HAPPENING?
Mostly swing, C&W, Cajun, Zydeco and Latin --
Contra dancers, please go to the Fiddle and Dance News Dance Calendar
updated 14 November 2009
Some Hudson Valley dancing
No partner necessary for any of these dances!
Every Wednesday West Coast Swing Wednesday at the First Presbyterian Church of Highland, Grove St., Highland, NY. Dance 8:30-11pm, $5 or $2 with lesson; Basic lesson 7-7:45pm, $10; Intermediate lesson, 7:45-8:30pm, $10. For more info swingdance@earthlink.net or call 845-679-4464.
Every Wednesday Salsa and Hustle at Globe Bar & Grill, 1879 Palmer Ave., Larchmont, NY. 9pm to midnight $5, plus one lesson $10: hustle lesson 7-8pm, salsa lesson 8-9pm; they say there's a large dance floor. For more info call 914-833-8600.
Every Wednesday California Mix at the Ukranian American Citizens Club, 1 Pulaski St., Cohoes, NY. For more info call 518-233-9265.
Every Wednesday Latin Night at Pinto and Hobbs, 32 Dove St., Albany, NY. 9pm. For more info Christine@albanyhotspots.net.
Every Thursday West Coast Swing Dance at The Center for Creative Education, 20 Thomas St., Kingston, NY. 8:30pm dance, $10; 7pm basic lesson, $7; 7:45pm Beyond the Basics, $7. For more info call 914-475-0803.
Every Thursday East Coast and Lindy at the Fuze Box, 12 Central Ave., Albany, NY. $7, 9pm, lesson at 8pm.
Every Thursday Blues Jam at Daniel J's, 2970 Rte. 22, Patterson, NY. 9pm, no cover. For more info call 845-878-3838.
Every Thursday Ballroom at the Ukrainian American Citizens Club, 1 Pulaski St., Cohoes, NY. $10, 7:45-11pm, lesson 6:45pm.
Every Friday Latin at the Copa Lounge at the Quality Inn (formerly Holiday Inn), 90 Rt. 17K, Newburgh, NY. 10pm, lesson 8:30pm $10. For more info call 845-561-6797.
Every Friday Salsa Classico at the CasaJavi Tavern, 138 Washington Ave (above The Pit), Albany, NY. $7. For more info call 518-505-4604.
First Tuesday Blues with Big Joe Fitz (Dec. 1) at the High Falls Café, Rte. 213 & Mohonk Rd., High Falls, NY. You can West Coast to some of it, East Coast to some of it, and some of it is just plain Rock. 7-10pm, no cover. For info call 845-687-2699.
First Friday Albany Swing Dance (Dec. 4: Peter Davis & Friends; Jan 1: cancelled for New Year's) at the Albany Elks Lodge, 25 South Allen St. (just one block South of Rt. 20 -- So. Allen is where Western and Madison meet), Albany, NY. 8:30pm, $12, basic workshop at 7:30pm. For more info su_chick@yahoo.com or call 518-292-0133.
First Friday Woodstock Cajun Dances with Cleoma's Ghost (Dec. 4), at the Woodstock Community Center, Rock City Rd., Woodstock, NY. $12, 8-11pm. For more info call 845-238-8663.
First Friday Hudson Valley Dance Mix (Dec. 4), at La Mirage, Rt. 9W, Ulster Park, NY. 8pm-midnight, $10, $5 with dinner. For more info call 845-331-9400 or 845-569-7192.
First Saturday Swing Dance Mix (Dec. 5), at the First Presbyterian Church of Highland, Grove St., Highland, NY. 8pm, $10, free lesson at 7pm. For more info swingdance@earthlink.net or call 845-679-4464.
First Saturday Blues Nite with Upstart Blues (Dec. 5) at Skytop Steakhouse & Brewery, 237 Forest Hill Dr., Kingston, NY. 9pm. For more info call 845-340-4277.
First Saturday Fishkill Milonga (Dec. 5) at the Fishkill United Methodist Church, Broad & Smith Streets, Fishkill, NY. 8pm-midnite, $10. For more info call 845-896-4166.
First Saturday Club-style Ballroom Dance at The Fuze Box, 12 Central Ave., Albany, NY. 8-10pm, lesson at 7:40pm, $2.
First Sunday Poughkeepsie Swing Dance Jam (Dec. 6) at the Arlington Reformed Church, southeast corner of EASTBOUND Route 44/55 and Raymond Avenue, Poughkeepsie, NY. Lindy and West Coast to favorite CDs. 6-6:30pm beginner's lesson, 6:30-9 dance, $8. For more info, contact Arlene at 845-339-3032.
First Sunday Schenectady Swing Dance at 1020 Barrett Street, Schenectady. West Coast, Lindy Hop, East Coast, Jitterbug and Foxtrot to a "request-responsive" DJ. 6:30-10:15pm, $8 ($4 students), air-conditioned. For info call Jana at 518-435-8042.
First Sunday Ballroom at the Ukrainian American Citizens Club, 1 Pulaski St., Cohoes, NY. $10, 7-10pm, lesson 6:15pm.
Second Tuesday Poughkeepsie West Coast Swing Night (Dec. 8) at the Halo Lounge, 206 Main St., Poughkeepsie, NY. 8-10pm, no cover. For more info dancerali36@yahoo.com.
Second Wednesday WestChester Tango "Milonga" (Argentine Dance Party), at Eagles, 7 Old Albany Post Rd, Ossining, NY (directions at website). 8-11pm, one hour lesson begins 8pm, dance party 9-11pm, $10. For more info tangoWNY@yahoo.com or 914-528-9771. For carpool call 845-229-7269.
Second Friday Salsa (Dec. 11) at the Rosendale Cafe, 434 Main St., Rosendale, NY. 9:30pm, $5, always call to check this one. For more info call 845-658-9048.
Second Saturday Swing Dance Party (Nov. 14) at the Reformed Church of Port Ewen, Atrium Hall (off 9W), Port Ewen, NY. $10, $6 students w/ ID, 7:30-10pm, 7pm basic workshop. For more info call 845-236-3939.
Second Saturday Milonga (Nov. 14) at Strictly Ballroom, 5208 Rte. 9W, Newburgh, NY. $10, 8pm-midnite. For more inf call 845-783-6002.
Second Saturday Noche Latina at Pinto and Hobbs, 32 Dove St., Albany, NY. For more info Christine@albanyhotspots.net.
Second Sunday Albany Dance at DDB, 724 Watervliet Shaker Rd. (Albany Med. Prof. Bldg.), Latham, NY. Swing, cha cha, mambo, samba, waltz, foxtrot, etc. to recorded music, 7-10:30, $10 ($7 students). For info call 518-786-7780 or 518-783-9829.
Second Sunday Ballroom at the Ukrainian American Citizens Club, 1 Pulaski St., Cohoes, NY. $10, 7-10pm, lesson 6:15pm.
Third Tuesday Blues with Big Joe Fitz & Special Guests (Nov. 17) at the High Falls Café, Rte. 213 & Mohonk Rd., High Falls, NY. You can West Coast to some of it, East Coast to some of it, and some of it is just plain Rock. 7-10pm, no cover. For info call 845-687-2699.
Third Friday Swing Dance Mix (8-10 mix, 10-midnight West Coast Swing), (cancelled Nov. 20) at the Albany Elks Lodge, 25 South Allen St., Albany, NY. For more info call 845-679-4464.
Third Saturday West Coast Socials (Nov. 21) at Strictly Ballroom, 153 Temple Hill Rd. (Rte. 300), Suite 2, New Windsor, NY. $10, 8pm-midnite. For more info denisandlee@hvc.rr.com or call 845-569-7192.
Third Saturday Ballroom, Swing & Salsa Dance Party (Nov. 21) at the Liberty Elks Lodge, 80 Darbee Ln. / 17 Oberfest St., Liberty, NY. 7-10:30pm, $10. For more info call 845-292-6208.
Third Saturday Club-style Ballroom Dance at The Fuze Box, 12 Central Ave., Albany, NY. 8-10pm, lesson at 7:40pm, $2.
Third Sunday Kingston West Coast Swing / California Mix Dance (note: 4th Sunday in November!!, Nov. 22) at White Eagle Hall, 487 Delaware Ave., Kingston, NY. 6-9pm, $8, Beginner lesson, 6-6:30pm. For more info call 914-475-0803.
Third Sunday Ballroom Dancing at the Polish Community Center, Washington Ave. Ext., Albany, NY. Class 6:15-7:00pm; Dancing 'til 10pm; Members-$9; Non-$12; College-$5; Free under 18.
Fourth Tuesday Poughkeepsie West Coast Swing Night (Nov. 24) at the Halo Lounge, 206 MMain St., Poughkeepsie, NY. 8-10pm, no cover. For more info dancerali36@yahoo.com.
Fourth Wednesday WestChester Tango "Milonga" (Argentine Dance Party), at Eagles, 7 Old Albany Post Rd, Ossining, NY (directions at website). 8-11pm, one hour lesson begins 8pm, dance party 9-11pm, $10. For more info tangoWNY@yahoo.com or 914-528-9771. For carpool call 845-229-7269.
Fourth Friday Poughkeepsie Swing Dance (Nov. 27: Huguenot Slim and the Shuffle Kings; Dec. 18 -- third Friday this month!: The Saints of Swing with Rene Bailey) at The Poughkeepsie Tennis Club, 135 S. Hamilton St., Poughkeepsie, NY (see link for directions). 8:30pm, $15 / $10 students with ID, 7:30 beginner's workshop. For more info call 845-454-2571.
Fourth Saturday West Coast Swing Dance (Nov. 28; Dec. 26) at The Center for Creative Education, 20 Thomas St., Kingston, NY. $10, 8:30pm, workshops with Heidi Mongeau on Sat and Sun -- see website for details. For more info HudsonValleyWCS@Yahoo.com or call 914-475-0803.
Fourth Saturday Swing at the Gym! at Healthplex Fitness Center, 1673 Route 9, Clifton Park, NY. 8-11pm, 7pm lesson, $6, $10 with lesson. For more info hlcoleman2002@yahoo.com.
Last Saturday Woodstock Milonga (Nov. 28), at Mountain View Studio, Mountain View Ave., Woodstock, NY. 9pm-1am, intro lesson 8-9pm, buffet, $15. For more info call 845-246-1122.
Fourth Sunday Lefty's Sunday Salsa Socials at Maximum Fitness/Dance Studio, 59 North Plank Rd., Newburgh, NY. $5, 1-5pm, must have dance shoes or sneakers, 17 or older. For more info call 914-527-5075.
Fifth Sunday Albany Dance at DDB, 724 Watervliet Shaker Rd. (Albany Med. Prof. Bldg.), Latham, NY. Swing, cha cha, mambo, samba, waltz, foxtrot etc. to recorded music, 7-10:30, $10 ($7 students). For info call 518-786-7780 or 518-783-9829.
Fifth Sunday Schenectady Swing Dance at 1020 Barrett Street, Schenectady. West Coast, Lindy Hop, East Coast, Jitterbug and Foxtrot to a "request-responsive" DJ. 6:30-10:15pm, $8 ($4 students), air-conditioned. For info call Jana at 518-435-8042.
Fifth Sunday Ballroom at the Ukrainian American Citizens Club, 1 Pulaski St., Cohoes, NY. $10, 7-10pm, lesson 6:15pm.
Dennis Stroughmatt & Creole Stomp, Saturday, Nov. 14th, at the Ossining Eagles Hall, 7 Old Albany Post Rd., Ossining, NY. 8-11:30pm, 7pm workshop, $20. For more info laurarice26@yahoo.com or call 914-960-9057.
Rosie Ledet & The Zydeco Playboys, Sunday, Nov. 15th, at Let's Zydeco at Connolly's, 121 West 45th St., New York, NY. $22, 7-11pm, lesson at 6pm. For more info zydecolaura@hotmail.com or call 212-685-7597.
Jesse Lège and Bayou Brew (Cajun), Friday, Nov. 20th, at the Rosendale Cafe, 434 Main St., Rosendale, NY. 8pm, $10. For more info call 845-658-9048.
Big Joe Fitz and the Blues Party Band, Friday, Nov. 20th, at The Rhinecliff Hotel, 4 Grinnell St., Rhinecliff, NY. 9pm, $5. For more info call 845-876-0590.
Professor Louie and the Crowmatix (blues), Saturday, Nov. 21st, at the Rosendale Theatre, Main St., Rosendale, NY. 8pm, $12.50. For more info call 845-658-8989.
Ballroom, Swing & Salsa Dance Party, Saturday, Nov. 21st, at the Liberty Elks Lodge, 80 Darbee Ln. at Oberfest St., Liberty, NY. 7-11pm, $10, free lesson. For more info call 845-292-6208.
Kingston West Coast Swing / California Mix Dance moved to 4th Sunday in November!!, Nov. 22 at White Eagle Hall, 487 Delaware Ave., Kingston, NY. 6-9pm, $8, Beginner lesson, 6-6:30pm. For more info call 914-475-0803.
Dikki Du & the Zydeco Crew, Saturday, Dec. 5th, at the Ossining Eagles Hall, 7 Old Albany Post Rd., Ossining, NY. 8-11:30pm, 7pm workshop, $20. For more info laurarice26@yahoo.com or call 914-960-9057.
Bruce Daigrepont Cajun Band, Sunday, Dec. 6th, at Let's Zydeco at Connolly's, 121 West 45th St., New York, NY. $22, time TBA. For more info zydecolaura@hotmail.com or call 212-685-7597.
Johnny Ace & Sidewalk Zydeco, Sunday, Dec. 13th, at Let's Zydeco at Connolly's, 121 West 45th St., New York, NY. $22, 7-11pm, lesson at 6pm. For more info zydecolaura@hotmail.com or call 212-685-7597.
Bruce Katz (blues), Friday, Dec. 18th, at The Rhinecliff Hotel, 4 Grinnell St., Rhinecliff, NY. 9pm, $5. For more info call 845-876-0590.
New Year's Eve Party with The Red Stick Ramblers and Swingology (also contras in the other room), Thursday, Dec. 31st, at Ashokan, Beaverkill Rd., Olivebridge, NY. 8pm-3am, $25 ($50 with dinner, prepaid only) or you can go for the whole weekend -- see website for details. For more info call 845-246-2121.
The Pine Leaf Boys (Cajun), Saturday, Jan. 9th, at Let's Zydeco at Connolly's, 121 West 45th St., New York, NY. $22, 7pm-midnight, lesson at 6pm. For more info zydecolaura@hotmail.com or call 212-685-7597.
If you know any other dances or events that could be listed here, please contact me at FeatherSite -- questions and comments (I had to link this in to my Poultry Page web form as I was getting much too much spam off the address that was here).
Here's a few links to dance information on the web.
Information on Country Western
dance floor
etiquette.
West
Coast Swing, anybody?
Westiemonkey is another West Coast Swing site.
Michael Yusim's dance student site, with West Coast Swing moves demonstrated.
Here's a site with a history of Swing Dance.
lindyhopper.com links to several histories of Lindy Hop
And for another favorite dance form (of mine), here's
The Clogging Page.
Here's Henry Neeman's great
Dance Hotlist!
Dance Me
Tonight has links to lots of dances and live music, all by area.
The SAVE AS: DANCE page has links to a variety of dance resources.
Yehoodi.com leans toward Lindy info. There's a calendar here for various areas of the country.
Here's the Hudson Valley
Community Dance page of the HVCD. It includes their swing dance schedule, along with contra information.
MHV Dance Connection
has a page of Hudson Valley links.
LindyRick's Dance Connection has a bias toward Lindy events in the Hudson Valley area.
The
Dance Floor: Dancing in the Mid Hudson Valley leans toward ballroom.
Ballroom dancing in the Albany, NY, area
Where to go
Ballroom Dancing in Berkshire County, MA, and the Capital District, NY.
Ballroom Dancing Resource in the Berkshires, MA: Berkshire County USABDA
Lindy in the
Valley -- a site for Lindy Hoppers in Western Massachusetts.
This is Aria's list of places to
dance in New York City.
Carlos has put together a
Calendar of Swing Dance events
for New York City.
Here's Swing
Out -- another NY swing site.
SwingCraze! is a site promoting independent swing bands. Some great music available
here.
And for you Argentine Tango fans, here's the
Hudson Valley Tango page.
And a Capitol District (Albany-Troy) Swing Dance calendar.
And since you're in the area, check out the home page of
Hudson-Mohawk Traditional Dances.
If you're in the western New York State area,
check out the Rochester,
Syracuse and
Ithaca dance calendars.
Here's the New York (City)
Cajun Connection's dance schedule.
Or check out Arn Burkhoff's Northeast USA Cajun and Zydeco Schedule.
Let's Zydeco! Zydeco and Cajun in NYC.
And here's another site on Cajun/Zydeco Music and Dance.
Somebody Scream NY: Zydeco and Cajun in Ossining, NY.
For summers in NYC, here's where to find out about Lincoln
Center's Midsummer Night Swing.
This is the site of the
Connecticut Swing Dance Society.
Hartford Country Dance keeps schedules for Contra,
Swing, Cajun and Zydeco in central Connecticut.
The Mid-Hudson Valley (and beyond) Dance Calendar covers contra, square, swing
and Cajun dancing. This great listing is part of the Fiddle and Dance News (spam: of which
I'm the production editor).
Ashokan:
Friends of Fiddle and Dance sponsors
three great weeks of dance in the summer: Western and Swing Week, Southern Week
(clogging, Cajun and Old-Timey) and Northern Week (contras and French Canadian).
Check out their pages for further info on these camps and other dance events
held at the Ashokan Field Campus in Olive Bridge, NY, home of "Ashokan Farewell."
More great dance can be found at the Augusta
Heritage Center's Dance Weeks.
And finally, here's the Dance Connection -- maybe you can find a dance partner here.
"We are fools whether we dance or not,
so we might as well dance." -- Japanese proverb
And now for some band and music info . . .
For some great radio listening in the Hudson Valley, try
tuning in WHVW, 950 AM (Yes! AM!) They play great old music, old country, Western
Swing, R&B, some fifties, some Old Timey and "hillbilly." The stuff you never get to hear almost
anywhere else.
Also, you might want to check out Mike Gross's program Swingin' West, WVOF, 88.5 FM, Fairfield, CT, every Sunday from 6:30-8:00 A.M.
This is the Cajun & Zydeco Radio Guide - Louisiana's Cajun and Zydeco music resource.
Bob
Wills was the King of Western Swing, and here's a page with a lot of biographical info and some
discography.
Here's some general historical info on Western Swing.
Here's the cyberhome of Asleep At The Wheel, a modern Western Swing band.
Fans of old Western Swing music might want to drop
by the home page of the Light
Crust Doughboys.
For some local American Roots music . . . Delta Blues, Country, Western Swing, Bluegrass, Gospel, Hawaiian and more . . . check out the Hudson Rhythm Boys.
For the Cajun oriented, Balfa Toujours also has a page.
Here's the home page of the Cowboy Junkies. This isn't danceable music, but I can listen to Margo
Timmins sing for hours.
If, like me, you play a Kay acoustic upright bass,
there's now a registry for them.
Back to the home roost
Direct questions and comments to Barry at FeatherSite -- questions and comments