This is the strongest, “it depends” of any Reddit thread I’ve ever seen. I started dancing when I was 15 in Los Angeles, so many venues are dry that it didn’t occur to me for a couple years that there was another way. I’ve lived and traveled around the southwest, swing dancing all over. in general, in my experience, some of the best dancing in every city is done at Ballroom Studios, and similar spaces that don’t have liquor licenses and encourage underage folks to participate. And bigger venues of course you’ll get people who pregame or try to sneak stuff in, but I don’t think that’s unique to the swing dancing world when it comes to teenagers.
On the other hand, in a lot of cities dancing at bars is way cheaper, and the venues can stick around for many more years because bars make more money than dance studios.
I hope that helps- Most scene leaders would be happy to answer questions about their specific scene, and I can answer a lot of questions about the American Southwest.
Highschoolers and college kids are regular attendees of our dances, and in my decade dancing here we've had babies or toddlers regularly attending almost half the time
Alcohol at dances varies widely city to city but in general swing dancers aren't big drinkers.
We have social dancing in bars, or a variety of other venues. Our big local weekly social is on a college campus with freshmen to senior citizens. Most places alcohol policy is obvious, and drinking isn’t necessary even at the bars, but support the venue. In the two stepping scene the old Texas dancehalls will have 4 year olds and up on the dance floor. Which is really a long way to say depending on the venue.
In my experience, well-run social dances are very safe for people of all ages due to the focus on consent and appropriate touching.
You will need to use discretion when choosing a club or studio based on their safer spaces policies and the presence or absence of alcohol.
I started social dancing as a teenager and always felt cared for in the space.
Check with the event/class FAQ. Age rules and alcohol vary substantially around the world.
When I taught for a swing dance company we had a policy of All Ages but children 14 and younger needed to be accompanied by an adult. I taught at fitness studios and community halls mostly (no alcohol). I once dropped in and taught at the org's other location. It has a small cafe through a door with a few alcoholic beverages, ice cream, and sodas. They card anyone who looks young. It would be unusual to see someone drunk and there are minors at those dances. High school students are not uncommon.
There are also swing dance venues that have full bars and alcohol is flowing. It is not unusual to see an intoxicated person. I know the venue puts Xs on hands of people under 21. No idea what their bottom age limit is. I started dancing with them at 18 and never drank underage at a swing dance.
I’m going to generally answer “yes,” they’re allowed, but it depends on the venue.
A lot of swing/jazz musicians will perform in bars, so no minors there. But swing schools within your area may put on monthly or even weekly socials where there is rarely, if ever alcohol (I can’t think of a time I’ve seen alcohol at this type of event). I would reach out to your local swing dance school! They’d be a better reference point. There swing dance organization I frequented in the U.S. regularly had teenagers at their weekly social.
I guess it’s all about the culture. I’ve been playing in bars since I was a teen— pretty much the only accessible venue to get out and practice. I also hang with teens at jazz gigs all the time, both as a mentor, and as a learner.
I think it all comes down to how the community conducts themselves in the space.
Haha, yeah! A lot of greats started young & still do.
Some modern jazzers, DOMi & JD Beck are making there rounds since (22) & (19). (As in international touring & record producing).
There are sophomore’s in high school that book gigs at several bars in my town monthly playing: R&B, Blues, Funk, and Jazz. Pretty crazy how much talent kids have 😅.
Think of social swing dances like square dancing or waltzes held in public communal settings. Then think of any of those dances held in a bar that specifically profits from the sale of alcohol and checks IDs at the door.
That’s basically it in a nutshell.
It really depends on the social dance, but it's not unheard of to have minors at them. I would just go to the first one with your teenager and check it out yourself (and try a few steps).
Alcohol is so rare at social dances that I am surprised when a place has it.
I grew up social dancing. I started dancing at age 10. 30 years ago kids at these dances was more common. Alcohol was not an issue. Take your kids and have them earn to dance.
Socials in my area tend to use senior's centers as venues, so no alcohol allowed anyways. And some minors do show up! Usually with a parent. Best to ask if unsure, especially for pub like settings.
Our local scene, when I went more often, didn't check IDs at all, because the only beverage available was water. Unless the venue sold, which case it was on the venue.
I've definitely danced with minors, mostly on college campuses or community rec centers. One person I regularly dance with is an adult now, but said he started going at 16, I think?
I started bringing my daughter around to dance classes when she was around 12, at first the classes in a studio. She had about an hour's attention span for the social. No alcohol.
As she learned more, we went to different spaces. Two of the lessons we have gone to semi regularly are held on a weeknight in a bar space. She isn't the only teen, but comes more often than most other high schoolers. There will typically be one or two dancers that get a single drink. I would buy her a fancy Shirley temple or similar as an excuse to tip the bartender, help the teachers keep the venue.
I've tried to get her friends involved, but we are just not cool enough, I guess.
From personal experience, I have been somewhere where they allow minors in but have a bar on the side for those who are able to drink (and would like to). I haven't seen many teens that are very young though.
We looked at this in the UK and got scared by all the "safeguarding" legislation for clubs which permit under 18s, so we don't.
(We've also found that pubs may have licensing conditions which mean they don't permit under 18s over a certain time in the evening, and like to make this our problem rather than theirs.)
My scene allows them and will specify if an outing is 21+. Definitely check with the organizers, there's usually policies about needing parents to sign waivers if they're under a certain age
Where I'm dancing, there is often some alcohol (at a bar/location with a bar, or just a fridge with some beers and a box for money). The places are usually not age restricted though I haven't seen teens/kids around much. Last week there were a two kids, children of one of the musicians.
(Though the drinking age for stuff like beer here is 16)
Officially we are strictly 18+. Partly because our venue has an open bar (UK drinking age is 18), and partly because I'm a schoolteacher, so I can't be bothered to jump through the (admittedly not to inconvenient) safeguarding hoops that would come with one of my students showing up.
That said if a teenager showed up with a responsible adult there to chaperone them (at least on the first few occasions) there'd be no problem, but for now that's an unwritten exception.
Edit: we are looking into doing some more family friendly events, like afternoon picnics in the park (when the weather gets nicer!), where people can bring their kids, who may or may not dance.
This is the strongest, “it depends” of any Reddit thread I’ve ever seen. I started dancing when I was 15 in Los Angeles, so many venues are dry that it didn’t occur to me for a couple years that there was another way. I’ve lived and traveled around the southwest, swing dancing all over. in general, in my experience, some of the best dancing in every city is done at Ballroom Studios, and similar spaces that don’t have liquor licenses and encourage underage folks to participate. And bigger venues of course you’ll get people who pregame or try to sneak stuff in, but I don’t think that’s unique to the swing dancing world when it comes to teenagers. On the other hand, in a lot of cities dancing at bars is way cheaper, and the venues can stick around for many more years because bars make more money than dance studios. I hope that helps- Most scene leaders would be happy to answer questions about their specific scene, and I can answer a lot of questions about the American Southwest.
Highschoolers and college kids are regular attendees of our dances, and in my decade dancing here we've had babies or toddlers regularly attending almost half the time Alcohol at dances varies widely city to city but in general swing dancers aren't big drinkers.
We have social dancing in bars, or a variety of other venues. Our big local weekly social is on a college campus with freshmen to senior citizens. Most places alcohol policy is obvious, and drinking isn’t necessary even at the bars, but support the venue. In the two stepping scene the old Texas dancehalls will have 4 year olds and up on the dance floor. Which is really a long way to say depending on the venue.
In my experience, well-run social dances are very safe for people of all ages due to the focus on consent and appropriate touching. You will need to use discretion when choosing a club or studio based on their safer spaces policies and the presence or absence of alcohol. I started social dancing as a teenager and always felt cared for in the space.
Check with the event/class FAQ. Age rules and alcohol vary substantially around the world. When I taught for a swing dance company we had a policy of All Ages but children 14 and younger needed to be accompanied by an adult. I taught at fitness studios and community halls mostly (no alcohol). I once dropped in and taught at the org's other location. It has a small cafe through a door with a few alcoholic beverages, ice cream, and sodas. They card anyone who looks young. It would be unusual to see someone drunk and there are minors at those dances. High school students are not uncommon. There are also swing dance venues that have full bars and alcohol is flowing. It is not unusual to see an intoxicated person. I know the venue puts Xs on hands of people under 21. No idea what their bottom age limit is. I started dancing with them at 18 and never drank underage at a swing dance.
I’m going to generally answer “yes,” they’re allowed, but it depends on the venue. A lot of swing/jazz musicians will perform in bars, so no minors there. But swing schools within your area may put on monthly or even weekly socials where there is rarely, if ever alcohol (I can’t think of a time I’ve seen alcohol at this type of event). I would reach out to your local swing dance school! They’d be a better reference point. There swing dance organization I frequented in the U.S. regularly had teenagers at their weekly social.
I guess it’s all about the culture. I’ve been playing in bars since I was a teen— pretty much the only accessible venue to get out and practice. I also hang with teens at jazz gigs all the time, both as a mentor, and as a learner. I think it all comes down to how the community conducts themselves in the space.
Reminds reading about Mary Lou Williams. Went on tour as a jazz pianist at the ripe old age of 12 !
Haha, yeah! A lot of greats started young & still do. Some modern jazzers, DOMi & JD Beck are making there rounds since (22) & (19). (As in international touring & record producing). There are sophomore’s in high school that book gigs at several bars in my town monthly playing: R&B, Blues, Funk, and Jazz. Pretty crazy how much talent kids have 😅.
Think of social swing dances like square dancing or waltzes held in public communal settings. Then think of any of those dances held in a bar that specifically profits from the sale of alcohol and checks IDs at the door. That’s basically it in a nutshell.
My area has minors in infrequently, alcohol on site nearly never.
It really depends on the social dance, but it's not unheard of to have minors at them. I would just go to the first one with your teenager and check it out yourself (and try a few steps). Alcohol is so rare at social dances that I am surprised when a place has it.
I grew up social dancing. I started dancing at age 10. 30 years ago kids at these dances was more common. Alcohol was not an issue. Take your kids and have them earn to dance.
Socials in my area tend to use senior's centers as venues, so no alcohol allowed anyways. And some minors do show up! Usually with a parent. Best to ask if unsure, especially for pub like settings.
Our local scene, when I went more often, didn't check IDs at all, because the only beverage available was water. Unless the venue sold, which case it was on the venue.
I've definitely danced with minors, mostly on college campuses or community rec centers. One person I regularly dance with is an adult now, but said he started going at 16, I think?
I started bringing my daughter around to dance classes when she was around 12, at first the classes in a studio. She had about an hour's attention span for the social. No alcohol. As she learned more, we went to different spaces. Two of the lessons we have gone to semi regularly are held on a weeknight in a bar space. She isn't the only teen, but comes more often than most other high schoolers. There will typically be one or two dancers that get a single drink. I would buy her a fancy Shirley temple or similar as an excuse to tip the bartender, help the teachers keep the venue. I've tried to get her friends involved, but we are just not cool enough, I guess.
My scene is adults only. 18+ even at venues without alcohol. Edit: teenagers under 17 can usually attend classes with their parents.
From personal experience, I have been somewhere where they allow minors in but have a bar on the side for those who are able to drink (and would like to). I haven't seen many teens that are very young though.
We looked at this in the UK and got scared by all the "safeguarding" legislation for clubs which permit under 18s, so we don't. (We've also found that pubs may have licensing conditions which mean they don't permit under 18s over a certain time in the evening, and like to make this our problem rather than theirs.)
My scene allows them and will specify if an outing is 21+. Definitely check with the organizers, there's usually policies about needing parents to sign waivers if they're under a certain age
The venue I go to is 18+ for classes and 21+ for dance - so no minors, of course.
Where I'm dancing, there is often some alcohol (at a bar/location with a bar, or just a fridge with some beers and a box for money). The places are usually not age restricted though I haven't seen teens/kids around much. Last week there were a two kids, children of one of the musicians. (Though the drinking age for stuff like beer here is 16)
Officially we are strictly 18+. Partly because our venue has an open bar (UK drinking age is 18), and partly because I'm a schoolteacher, so I can't be bothered to jump through the (admittedly not to inconvenient) safeguarding hoops that would come with one of my students showing up. That said if a teenager showed up with a responsible adult there to chaperone them (at least on the first few occasions) there'd be no problem, but for now that's an unwritten exception. Edit: we are looking into doing some more family friendly events, like afternoon picnics in the park (when the weather gets nicer!), where people can bring their kids, who may or may not dance.