Archived Page:
Was the about page for the original list of places. At that time the list was all hand edited and maintained.
This is now a database query page. It was first turned into a database in 1998 when I realized that it was far too much work otherwise.

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I started my page on places to dance because I wasn't successful at finding good sources of published information about where to dance in Kansas City.
 
For persons in this area there are regular sources of current information on night life in general: On Fridays the Kansas City Star's Preview section. Look in the Calendar section under the "Nightlife" heading. On Thursdays you can pick up new copies of The Pitch Weekly (a freebie) with its "Nightlife" listings.
 
Many places listed in the various "Nightlife" headings do not have dancing of any kind even though some of the musicians playing there, or just the number of acts listed might lead you to expect so.
 
Live-performer listings often do not mean dancing. D.J. listings usually, though not always, mean dancing. A place which lists a D.J. on some nights and live acts on others is a good bet for dancing. A few places will tell you that people do get up at their tables and boogie, but no dance floor. They are not listed here.
 
I have not meant to critique the places but I have meant to give my dancing friends a guide to exploring. Normally I will try to give a description of the place and what worked. If I have had a genuinely bad experience I will tell you. I also note that perhaps it was just that night.
 
This list will not try to give you a calendar of events at these places. I would need to do this full time. So, do call before you depend on this list to give you times when a spot is open. They change hours and sometimes go out of business with astonishing (to me) rapidity. When I know that a nightspot has a web page I will include that link.
 

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Who is listed: Places which provide music, have space for dancing (normally a specific dance floor) and which allow the public at large to come in and dance.
 
Not here are locations which say "Yes, some people do dance, they just get up and do it next to the tables or where they are." Also not here are locations which restrict entry to members or to members and their guests. I have to assume that the members do know the activities of their own organization. Since they are not open to non-members listing these locations here doesn't add information to those persons who can take advantage of the dancing here. Not listing them further prevents an unexpected set of non-members from showing up with whom the club then must deal by showing them the door. That is unfair to all parties. Further, in the case of some such clubs, they must also deal with liquor laws restricting access to members. They don't need the problem of turning back hopeful dancers at the door. Not only in terms of any hurt feelings but, more importantly, in terms of their license to do business. This is especially to with non-profits.
 

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About my VISIT reports: A visit report means I've at least visited the location. Although I intend to at least visit and, I hope, dance at each of these places, this will take me a while. I am not able to visit all of these places across a long period of time so some of the visit reports are from one visit only. Most floor sizes are my own eyeball estimates. My emphasis is on places with danceable music, partner dancing and real dance floors. I prefer nice places though the definition of nice changes. I prefer spacious floors yet some of my best experiences have been on postage-stamp floors (see below). I prefer clean and classy decor yet some of the friendliest, feel-at-home, fits like an old shoe, places have been somewhat grundgy and maybe even a little bit intimidating on first glance.
 
I originally had an idea about rating places with a numerical system. But because the physical appearance of a place may not always tell you a great deal about enjoyability I decided to simply try to describe a place as briefly as I can.
 


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About dance floors. The nicest floors in the entire metro area are few. They need to have good flooring, normally hardwood with some give and they need to be well taken care of so that a good ballroom dancer can do spins.
 
Unfortunately for dancers, most clubs have small floors and not always well taken care of. Nonetheless, I have had a good time at most. The exceptions have been floors so spilled-drink-sticky that it felt like dancing on fly paper.
 
A goodly number of floor I term "kitchen-tile" floors. These may be made of vinyl, asphalt tiles or may be Linoleum. I started calling some of them asphalt-tile floors - which is technically - but some folks confused them with asphalt road material. Vinyl is another description of the material and Linoleum is a trademark for a similar type of floor. I decided that calling the floors "kitchen tile" would be recognizable.
 
When I began looking at floors I first looked only at big ballroom floors as acceptable. I originally had an idea of rating the floors. Then as I began having fun on floors that looked doubtful to me, and in some cases were truly bad, I decided to just try to describe the floors. So I give some idea of the floor's material, condition and size. The size is usually my eyeball estimate.
 
Fun dancing is available even on brick surfaces which go up and down in hill and dale fashion. So look for good floors but don't forget that some of the best fun may be in small, cramped places with lousy floors (as compared to ballrooms).
 
Most of all don't forget to have fun dancing. Otherwise why are you dancing?
 


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Lastly, this isn't my day job, folks, so if you have further reports or other information which would be helpful to add to this page please, please, do feel free to email me.