Dancing in Columbia

On Saturday night I went dancing at Salsa Cabana in Columbia, South Carolina. This is probably one of the best clubs I have been to for dance floor size, proper floor for latin dancing (turns and such), and great music. There is a variety of places that people can sit, if you get there before the crowd arrives. Parking can be a problem but I have never had trouble finding a spot, it just may be on the other side of the complex the club is in. It is $5 to get in before 12. The folks working the door are fairly friendly, especially if you are a regular.

I usually go dancing on Friday nights. This was my second time going on a Saturday night. The difference for me was very apparent. I usually go dancing alone. (I don't have friends who are into dancing like I am and I am single.) On Friday's I rarely have had trouble finding someone to dance with or being asked to dance. Last night was just plain painful. Lots of couples. I used to go Swing Dancing and I was used to people being in couples but knowing that when you go social dancing you dance with other folks too. This is an ongoing compliant in the Latin Dance community, the hesitancy for people in couples to dance with others. To make things far more complicated are the cliques, which is actually worse if I think about it. Folks who arrive in their groups of friends and only dance with each other. This echoes my observations when I went dancing in Charleston. On the one hand I can understand folks in couples not wanting to dance with others but the cliques are counter to what it means to social dance, in my opinion.

I am hoping that as things begin to develope here in Myrtle Beach I can create a community that is more welcoming and warm. If that is the reputation Myrtle Beach becomes known as alot of people will come here dancing just to be somewhere where they spend their gas, money, and time knowing it was an all around great time.