Our 2011 update: more dancers, more venues, more nights
The “Freestyle Boogie Jam Ecstatic Freedom Dance Church” scene has changed considerably in the past year. Three of the very top names in the San Francisco/Berkeley/Oakland dance scene have changed management schemes: Ecstatic Dance, Barefoot Boogie, and Dance Jam.
The last new thing to change is the success of new venues starting up and bringing back music couples can dance to: Friday Night Blues (SF), Contact Tango (SF), Ecstatic Dance LIVE (Oakland-Thurs only), Barefoot Boogie (Berkeley-ongoing), Metta Dance (SF-only on a downbeat night), . This is a change from the large number of younger people drawn into the “Boom-Boom Uber:Bass” found on other nights.
I travel to Santa Cruz and Monterey Peninsula monthly to check out their scenes. In fifty miles they have two non-led freestyle dances weekly. Here in SF/East Bay we now have seven weekly events that meet that criteria in a non-club smoke and alcohol free atmosphere. Rather than the numbers of dancers shrinking as Ecstatic Dance raised the bar for both venue and DJ’s, it’s creation also raised the total number of dancers exponentially.
Meanwhile, state and city regulations are closing traditional dance clubs with great dance floors leaving groups of club dancers looking for a place to go. The existing club scene is being condensed into louder, larger and more crowded rooms which have zero appeal to stylistic free style couples dancers.
Our dance scene in the Bay Area north and south has an opportunity of growth ahead ...if they can just get the word out to the dancers who want to dance. Ergo the purpose of this zine – to grow the scene.