Forget clubbing and go ballroom, swing, jazz, etc. dancing

[Myth]

Friday night went to a swing dancing place for the first time (and jazz dance), and holy shit, that is the place to pick of girls. Unlike clubbing where guys often become creepers and disgust girls by their actions, dancing at these places are much easier to just go up to a girl and say "Want to dance?" It also isn't louder than shit, so you can have a conversation so you can really find an in. At a club, girls will avoid you frequently if you try to go dance with them. At a place like this, not a single girl said no to a dance, and then you have them at minimum for the rest of the song to strike a conversation.

[maybeshewill13]

You missed the most important part. You don't have to listen to shit music.

[HarryCallahan]

OP is a wise man indeed.

[sunsfan1357]

I think a lot of people are just worried about being judged for not knowing how the hell to swing/jazz dance...and yes that includes me

[LikeABosh]

OP speakin the truth

[Myth]

Well did you pick up a girl?

Yes. I actually hit it off quite well with 2, but one had a friend interrupt. I was going to try to get her number before she left, but next thing I knew I was dancing with the other one that I hit it off with, so never got a number from the 1st.

[Myth]

I think a lot of people are just worried about being judged for not knowing how the hell to swing/jazz dance...and yes that includes me

You know, I think in a small way it went to my advantage that I didn't know how do either dance. They had 45 minute classes that were split among experience levels before the dance. The moment I started dancing with a girl, I used a little self-deprecating humor about being bad at dancing and eventually they would ask how long I have been dancing those styles and I would say "Since today." If you can keep any beat at all even if you didn't know any fancy moves, they all pretty much seemed impressed. Also, by not being able to do anything fancy, that meant it was easier to stay face to face and talk, rather than constantly spinning around and only getting words in here and there.

[RidonKs]

right on man. i've been clubbing a lot more frequently lately and i just hate it. every so often i can get "in" with a girl by a sorta blind approach method, but it's always dark loud and crowded, all factors that i think work against my best features. i started looking for jazz clubs that weren't too 'loungy' in a gentlemans club sort of way a month ago but they aren't easy to find.... most tend to be membership oriented, which means exclusive and expensive. my city might not be as big as yours which isn't helping.

and as for the music, i can dig it every so often but there isn't a goddamn bar or club i've been to in this city (halifax, nova scotia) that doesn't play top 40 hip hop or combos of classic and indie rock.... typically its one or the other and is pretty much the difference between a club and a pub. i like some variety and its a goddamn blast shakin ur tailfeather to like big band music or swingin soul or anything like that.... shame there isnt much of a market for it.

best bet is keeping your ear to the ground for special events. there was a $10 prohibition themed party in like a giant auditorium that i really wanted to go to but had to work. hopefully another pops up soon.

[RidonKs]

If you can keep any beat at all even if you didn't know any fancy moves, they all pretty much seemed impressed.

aha this is awesome. god bless the meathead for lowering everybody's standards so we all seem like tony bennett.

[Balla_Status]

I'd agree with this. I only know how to two-step and that's pretty much only from watching people and going up blindly and trying it with random women.

Two-stepping is easy though. I usually only like to spin with girls that I know (usually friends) because I'm actually trying to have a conversation with girls I don't know.

[Myth]

Did you go alone?

I went with a meetup group. I only knew one of the guys (barely) before I went. More were supposed to go, but only 4 showed up (including me) and after the first 1.5 hours, we lost track of each other, so I spent the rest of the night only talking to the female persuasion.

I think it is also worth noting that I didn't go in planning on picking anybody up. I went to learn how to dance so that maybe in the future I could get decent and use it to my advantage. Little did I know that it would be so effective on day 1.

My thoughts on dancing are similar to the concept of running away from a bear. I don't need to be faster than the bear, I just can't be the slowest. With dancing, I don't need to be great, but if I'm adequate and better than some others, I will still look good.

[Bandito]

I think a lot of people are just worried about being judged for not knowing how the hell to swing/jazz dance...and yes that includes me

take classes. I did and it was awesome. I met some cute girls there.

[kNicKz]

I wonder if Bladers has tried this

[L.Kizzle]

I always go to nice jazz clubs or lounges with live music. Unless it's a strip club, that's different though. Biches can't get down to no Thelonious Monk.

[QuebecBaller]

I'm a Swing dancer since 2010 and when you're good, the girls never stop to ask you to dance