As a newbie who has always been clumsy, I felt it was time to get out of my comfort zone and give ballroom dancing a try despite past traumas of being teased and humiliated for being kinesthetically-challenged. [[HIGHLIGHT]]The instructors are very kind and clear![[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] It's very beginner-friendly, and you get a lot of practice with rotating partners to get the hang of the footwork. Some dance classes go super-fast and aren't clear and they low-key shame you if you can't keep up. Not FNW! I really appreciate that this is a very affordable way for people to learn different types of social dances, and after the lessons, there's also open dance time when people can dance with each other. People are very respectful, and the music selection is a tasteful eclectic mix of modern, vintage, and classic. If I lived in the Peninsula, I would would more of an effort to attend more often. What a gem of social dancing! read more

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This is the most wonderful weekly dance event in all of the Bay Area! Friday Night Waltz is organized every Friday at a very convenient location in downtown Palo Alto, close to the Caltrain station and with plenty of free parking nearby. The event features two hours of classes and a three-hour dance party that is DJed by amazing local dancers. It's always a great time! [[HIGHLIGHT]]The community at Friday Night Waltz is very welcoming and builds a sense of belonging among all attendees: from high schoolers to retirees.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] It truly shines the diversity of the Bay Area. To cater to the interests of its audience, the organization also hosts themed nights such as: Anime night, Halloween night, Bastille night, Pride night, etc. Highly recommend checking one of these special dances! No previous dance experience or a partner is needed. This is an amazing fun Friday night out whether alone, with friends and family, or with a significant other. Despite the name, the dances at Friday Night Waltz are not all waltzes: plenty of west coast swing, salsa, bachata, etc. All of it set to popular music. Hope to see you there soon! read more

[[HIGHLIGHT]]I love Friday Night Waltz!!. I've been dancing in this marvelous, social dance community for 20 years and it keeps getting better and better[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]]. [[HIGHLIGHT]]I've learned so many dances on that dance floor and made so many new dance friends definitely friendliest dancing in the Bay Area.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] I've also learned to teach dance there and still occasionally teach. I base my teaching on my favorite Social dance teacher of all time Richard Powers, who's innovative and historical techniques of teaching make dancing much more fun and creative than any other Ballroom dance teacher I've known. [[HIGHLIGHT]]Friday Night Waltz is a world class dance community treasure. Hope to see you on the dance floor there.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] read more

I never write reviews but FNW is near and dear to my heart (I've been coming for 2+ years) so will offer some thoughts: This place is more than a dance venue, it's a community of warm hearted dancers who've introduced countless newbies to the charm of social dance. 'Waltz is stuffy + only for old people!' I would sometimes hear this from other newbies. But, dear reader, I hail from the world of all-night EDM ragers and I have observed that, while certainly hip and full of vigor, raves and night clubs don't generally inspire great dancing. For that, one must discover the dancer's art itself. FNW taught me to appreciate the beauty of a waltz, slowly but surely. Several reviewers have mentioned Richard Powers (who is phenomenal) but many dedicated teachers have stitched this tapestry of dancers together over the course of thirty-odd years. FNW is the definition of a gem hiding in plain sight. [[HIGHLIGHT]]It'll take more than a single night to learn to dance well - perhaps a lifetime - but what a fine way to spend a friday night, locked in an enthralling trance perchance with a smiling partner.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] read more

[[HIGHLIGHT]]Friendly crowd, great dancers, cool vibe.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] The classes are an excellent way to get started, and the dance party is welcoming to people of all ages. No partner needed. Highly recommended! read more

One of the only places to get social ballroom like this anywhere in the country! There aren't a lot of places you can dance ballroom, Latin, west and east coast swing, and even line dances in the same night, let alone to the range of music we get from their DJs (in a night, you might dance to the greatest hits from 2017, 1917, and 1817!) [[HIGHLIGHT]]FNW has a great casual atmosphere combined with friendly people excited to help you learn to dance.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] No partner necessary, no dance experience necessary! They teach different dances every week, and if you ever have any questions, there are a dozen people who might help you figure out a step or one-two-three. You can show up in jeans and a t-shirt, and you can dance lead, follow (or sometimes both in a single song) regardless of yours or your partner's gender. I've been a lead most of my life, but I've been learning to follow since starting at FNW. [[HIGHLIGHT]]I love FNW and if you're at all interested in learning to dance, there's really no safer and more welcoming place to do so.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] (Although if you're in the East Bay, you might also try East Bay Walt on the 3rd Saturday of the month. There's huge overlap in the attendees and leadership, so the atmosphere is the same). Come join us! ​​​ read more

Amazing venue for variety ballroom dancing. [[HIGHLIGHT]]An eclectic group of dancers, heavily attended by current Stanford students and alumni; however all are welcome.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]No partner necessary. Come alone or in a group and warm up with 2 hours of dance class, followed by 4 sets of eclectic dance tunes.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]The musical sets are peppered with simple group mixers and line dances that help get everyone involved.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]All Fridays are good, but don't miss the Richard Powers nights; he is a master teacher, and always has an entertaining theme for his DJ sets, e.g., Disney theme, international theme, etc[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]]. see you there. Look for 'Uncle Matty' read more

[[HIGHLIGHT]]With the casual atmosphere and friendly, non-judgmental crowd, this is a good place to learn how to dance.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]My wife and I go here once every few weeks for exercise and catching up with friends.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] read more

I love the community and the variety of dance music. The nights when Richard Powers teaches can be crowded since he teaches at Stanford and draws that crowd as well. read more

[[HIGHLIGHT]]I had a fun evening learning how to waltz and other dances.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] [[HIGHLIGHT]]I made it to the holiday dance, which was an especially good time, with people dressed up and themed music![[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Heavily recommend for a fun way to get out of the house, even with little/no dancing experience. read more

[[HIGHLIGHT]]Excellent place to meet people and dance to modern takes on classical social dances.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] Admittedly a very biased review as I am sometimes one of the DJs for the event! [[HIGHLIGHT]]I will take the feedback listed here to heart and make sure that the featured lesson for the night figures more heavily in the following set list.[[ENDHIGHLIGHT]] read more

Long review ahead. This is for newcomers who want to try Friday Night Waltz for the first time. Each night is 2 hours of teaching one dance (sometimes multiple), then 3 hours of open dance rotating through a dizzying repertoire of dances. Pros: casual, very low-key. Each week has both a lesson and open dance session. Relatively inexpensive, especially considering the open dance is included with the lesson for $12 total. No need to come with a partner---they rotate super fast through partners. Seriously, like every 30 seconds for the whole two hours. Cons: my main beef is the barrier to entry for newcomers. The enormous variety of dances during the second half is quite intimidating for those who haven't been coming for years. Most lesson-goers are first-timers who are taught one single dance routine. To their dismay, the second half showcases Friday Night Waltz ultra-veterans who confidently whirl through unfamiliar and esoteric dances such as polka, cross-step waltz, redowa (?), Congress of Vienna (??), schottische (???), Tokyo polka (seriously, are they making these up) and on and on. And the first-timers think, not unreasonably, "All these people somehow know all these dances already, and I'll never manage to learn all of these" and never come back. Tonight was my fourth straight week, with 18 months of competitive ballroom training from my college years to lean on, and I *still* struggle greatly with the second half. You do the math: they cycle through maybe 8 main dances and several other rarer ones, and they only teach one or two every week. If your superhuman memory remembers that lesson from 6 weeks ago, great! If not...be prepared to stumble around with two left feet nine out of ten songs with your partner smiling politely at you. Not exactly confidence-inspiring. If you're an average human being like me, this will be pretty embarrassing and uncomfortable. If you're outgoing and confident and don't mind looking kinda foolish, then this can be fun and educational. So yes, the way FNW is run and taught, sadly it is not for everyone. It certainly can be fun and I'm thankful for the folks who run it, but I don't know if I can stomach riding the "you're kinda on your own, kid" learning curve for another 1-2 months before I start feeling competent on the floor. The realistic alternative is to embrace the "I don't know what I'm doing but I'm dancing!!" mentality which, again, really doesn't toot the flute for some people. I'd rather spend my money and time at a place that isn't so repeatedly overwhelming. Which is sad as I've come to love some of the other regulars, but so it goes. Other comments: teaching quality is all right and somewhat uneven. If you're into footwork and technicality, definitely not the place for you. No time is given for questions, so if you fall behind, you have to catch up by watching others or be content with doing the wrong footwork for the rest of the evening. Oh. Be ready to sweat, lots. The dance floor is poorly ventilated with no windows, and if they forget to make sure the breeze comes in from the hallway, it's a sauna by 8:15. All in all, I certainly encourage you come to FNW but don't show up expecting to be given the tools to dance the second half. If you're not the kind of person who can dance shamelessly, integrating yourself into the regular FNW community is probably going to be an uphill climb. read more

Great fun, nice people . Music is great too! Dance lessons at the beginning. Palo Alto

Why two stars??? It's a little complicated, and "it's not for everybody" could be said about almost anything. Friday Night Waltz is a time to waltz and do some others that you won't find at Oakland's Lake Merritt Dance Center. Also specialized dances such as the Congress of Vienna and Bohemian National Polka. Plus, you gotta love organizers who throw in the Blue Danube Waltz -- the Spike Jones version. It can be a lot of fun and has a good crowd . . . if you know the dances. And therein lies the rub. I've been to several of their New Years Eve events, one of their classes, and met many of the dancers at Fezziwig's Ball at the annual Dickens Fair. They're not cliquish, they're friendly people. But they've been around each other a long time, and have become quite advanced in their level of dance. If you're not at that level, a lot of them get frustrated and either split after the song is over, or try to teach you how to dance while the dance is occurring (a BIG no-no). The class I went to was taught by Scott, the head honcho. He's a good instructor. But for about three minutes, he addressed the question of what if you end up with someone who's a much better dancer than you, and they give you a hard time. He gave great advice. But it tells me a lot that he had to bring this up! Apparently he knew that this was a problem at FNW. Thankfully, not everyone at FNW is like this. For example, Quinn, the long-haired bearded guy. Or Sarah, shorter with wavy black hair and a big smile. They're long-time regulars who make new people feel at home. They're also great dancers without being condescending. Seek them out, and tell them that Ron sent you :-) But basically, I won't go back to their normal events. I *know* I'm not a good waltzer, and I have higher priorities that prevent me from putting the required miles on the floor to become a good waltzer. It's a few weeks before New Years Eve, I'm debating going to it; it's been fun in the past, and the snobbishness is not as strong. But this is just a warning of what could happen, and make sure you're confident and up to snuff before going to a normal FNW event. ****************************************** UPDATE: I'm going to the New Years Eve Ball, I just sent in payment for my ticket. Good memory of the last time I went: My wife and I both went, she was 8 months pregnant, and she laughed at the sight of one entire wall lined with ladies' shoes, including hers. No, the room didn't stink :-) read more

Vintage and modern ballroom dances A high-energy dance party which features waltzes, polkas and other vintage and modern dances. Recorded music, friendly people who love to dance, beginning and intermediate dance lessons, light refreshments and occasional performances. A great place to learn and practise vintage dances. Casual attire. read more

Friday Night Waltz - The Congress Of Vienna - Dance Studios Near Me - Palo Alto, California

Friday Night Waltz is now EVERY Friday in Palo Alto. I've been going for 8 years and it's always a hoot. The instructors always bring something new to learn. Richard Powers, Joan Walton, and Anna Botelho regularly teach the 7-9 p.m. classes for dancers and Tom Hill teaches a FABULOUS basic waltz class downstairs for beginners. I'm always amazed at how well Tom gets people from two-left-feet to actually dancing in under two hours, and he does it equally well for rotary waltz and cross-step. From 9-12, the DJ'd music is an eclectic mix of 50% waltz (Viennese, rotary, and cross-step) and a mix of swing, polka, cha-cha, tango, schottische, salsa, and mixers to round out the evening. Don't know one? Great! You get a chance to sit out and talk with friends or have a snack. Know them all? Well then dance all night! There's always a few Congress of Vienna waltzes and a Cross-step Mixer, both great for beginners and advanced dancers alike. The crowd is welcoming and spans a huge age range from 16 to 70 with most of the crowd in their 20s and 30s. One minute you're dancing to a Strauss waltz and the next you're polkaing to a techno beat. Friday Night Waltz is for dancing, not for standing around looking pretty and sipping cocktails. No alcohol served here! Folks generally arrive in whatever they wore to work. It's come as you are and dance til you're all tuckered out. read more

I must say, if our friend Dan had not been with us - I'd have been bored, and embarrassed. Dan did not sit one dance out and was so great about teaching us some of the dances. These folks really know what they're doing. From Swing to Waltz, and then highly specialized things like the Bohemian Polka. It was fun to watch, but it was a little intimidating to not know what you're doing. I think the beginner's class might be very helpful for newbies... maybe even for several weeks in a row. It was nice to see gals taking charge and dancing with girls, too. There's simply never enough men to go around at something like this. And unless it's the Tango -- who cares?! Speaking of Tango! Ahhh! My favorite to watch. I'll work on my cross-step waltz and maybe come back with some friends and our dates. read more

Friday Night Waltz (FNW) is one of my favorite social partner dances. I regularly attend the FNW in Palo Alto on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of each month. This FNW dance event is held on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays (yes, Saturdays) of each month in Oakland. People are friendly and dress is casual. There's no need to come with a partner. There are beginner (and sometimes intermediate) classes from 7pm to 9pm. Dancing from 9pm to midnight. $12 for classes and the dance, as I recall, but check the website. The Lake Merritt Dance Center (aka the Oakland Veterans Hall) has a lovely spacious dance floor. With the larger venue, there are also sometimes other dances (e.g., blues) happening simultaneously in a nearby room. The focus is vintage dance and includes a variety of dances such as waltz (rotary, cross-step, and Viennese), polka, schottische, swing, one-step, tango, hustle, salsa, cha cha, etc. Waltz and polka make up the majority of dances with the others scattered throughout. For the FNW in Palo Alto (1st and 3rd Fridays), check out: http://www.yelp.com/biz/friday-night-waltz-palo-alto read more

FNW is a fantastic place to go dancing on a friday night if you are interested in dancing alone, rather than socializing. Most of the people that attend FNW are regulars who know most of the dances and generally dance with each other. That being said, I have learned several new dances at FNW and can always find a partner that is willing to dance with you when you are learning a dance (this is more true at the beginning of the night than at the end). The dancers that do not wish to have partners that are new will often arrive later; so you can be assured that the crowd at the beginning of the night is helpful and kind. The classes have a wide variety of dances taught and allow you to practice with several partners. This is a great place to go if you intend to dance the entire evening! read more

me: What do you wanna do this Friday? friend: Dunno..how about Waltzing at a Church in Palo Alto? me: Seriously?? That sounds kinda lame.. friend: umm yeah I know but seriously it's actually kinda cool. me: ooookay I'll try *ANYTHING* once.... I swear this is pretty cool! I have gone to this 2 *consecutive* Friday nights and will surely be back. The crowd is polite and friendly and pretty hip.. nothing like the creepy slimy salsa crowd you normally find. The music is also modern! I took the class from 7-9 with Tom and then danced upstairs for an hour or two. Class and dance is $12 total. The best part: most of the people here are faking it and nobody cares. read more

I don't get to Friday Night Waltz in Palo Alto as much as I would like since I live in Berkeley. When I do get there, it's a bunch of fun. Held in a hall in a church with a nice dance floor (They aren't religious, they just rent it).They have a rotating DJ who plays a mix of classical and modern music to waltz, polka, do other ballroom dance to. They have lessons before hand. The price is reasonable (about $10) and there are plenty of places to get something to eat before hand. The crowd's age varies between college students to people in their 50's with mostly people in 20's and 30's (I think) read more

This review is specifically about the intermediate dance class led by Mirage and Acata (not the open dance session after 9pm). For the class I attended, they taught cha-cha and two-step. Full disclosure on this review, I am a complete beginner taking an intermediate class, so my review may be slightly biased. Instruction: You will learn a lot in this class as a beginner, but you will get more out of it and have more fun if you already know basic dance moves and patterns, perhaps taught in the intro waltz class. Mirage and Acata started out by teaching the footwork. Then they added different spin moves before rapidly moving into combination moves (i.e. when you chain spin moves together in succession while keeping the musical beat). Trying to keep everything in-sync can easily be very overwhelming if you have little or no experience. However, the instructors are hugely entertaining and very patient with you if you are lucky enough to practice with one of them. After you learn each move, you get to practice with a partner, and then everyone rotates to a new partner for the next move. One difficulty I had was that the instructors were in the center while the students were around in a circle. This means that you rarely see the correct angle, and in the extreme case, you see a mirror image representation of what you're supposed to be doing, which can be a little disorienting. However, feel free to talk to them one on one afterward, and they can show you the moves with all the necessary details. People: The people are very diverse with people of all heights, ages, genders, and experience level. While it's not required to bring a partner, it definitely helps in order to keep the gender ratio in balance, though some experienced students can play the role of lead and follower. While rotating through different dance partners, you may find that some are very patient and will teach you how to improve, while others would have preferred a more experienced dance partner. (If you're both inexperienced, then you'll have a blast trying to work through it together!) Don't be discouraged! Just do your best and move on to the next partner. Overall, an excellent class for intermediate dancers or beginning dancers who are up for an eye-hand-foot coordination challenge! I would definitely come back again, either to the beginner class, or after I've practiced some more. read more

I have been dancing for nine years. Friday Night Waltz is my favorite place to dance because people are nice and you dance all sort of dances. read more

I have been dancing in the South Bay since 2002. This is one of the staples of the dance world. Although it's called Friday Night WALTZ, they actually play a good variety of dance styles (waltz, polka, tango, east coast swing, west coast swing, etc.). A lot of attendees have the Richard Powers dance style, so to those unfamiliar with that style, it may take a little getting used to, but overall, it's a delightful place to visit for a good dance and to catch up with friends. read more

I haven't been to the Palo Alto dances, but the quality varies quite a bit in Oakland. Always friendly and casual, sometimes there is hardly anyone there for the intermediate dance lesson and sometimes there is a nice group. The quality of the teaching varies a lot as well in teaching competence. The music is a controversy. There is a long tradition of using the weirdest music the DJ's can find, which some people find to be very fun. Personally, to me the bottom line is the beat. I don't care if it's an unusual waltz, but if the beat is so hard to find you can hardly tell it's a waltz, it isn't, in my opinion, fun to dance to. The music is my main gripe and while many people agree with me, the DJs insist that the crowd in general likes the music. While I find this hard to believe, I know it's true so you just have to check it out for yourself. read more

I've been dancing for about a year and going to Friday Night Waltz on and off for about six months, and I have to say, I can't imagine a better place to ease into the social dance scene. Despite the name, the primary advantage FNW has over its competitors is its variety of dances: about 50% of songs played are a form of waltz, but the rest form a colorful collection of tangoes, polkas, swings, cha-chas, and more. In contrast, the majority of dance events specialize in a particular kind of dance, so the people on the floor tend to be somewhat unforgiving of beginners. At FNW, pretty much everyone has their time to shine, and even if you don't know the dance whatsoever people are very willing to teach on the fly! There are also a lot of fun idiosyncrasies that have become traditions at FNW, such as the birthday dance, Kerry Sets, Bohemian National Polka, and Peanut Butter Jelly Time. It's fine if you have no idea what those are -- I still don't have a strong grasp on all of them myself, but I guarantee that if you jump in your partner(s) will be happy to help you along. Bottom line: If you love to dance or think you might, check it out! You might just get hooked. read more

I love going to Friday Night Waltz, especially when Richard Powers is teaching! Having waltz in the name is deceiving, because they cover loss of other dances like swing, salsa, tango, etc. Last week, I attended classes on Texas 2 step and Salsa taught by Mirage. She is hilarious! Her sense of humor made the class very fun and enjoyable. In the previous week, I took the line dancing class and Balboa from an instructor whose name escapes me at the current moment, but it was pretty terrible - the good news is that it's the only time I didn't like the class after attending many times throughout the years. Just skipped out of the Balboa class quickly and went to the beginner waltz class with Tom Hill downstairs. It was awesome - he taught the Congress of Vienna and Tokyo polka - both choreographed dances. The other attendees were indeed beginners - that was good as it did not intimidate my husband, who is not good at waltz. During the DJ dancing, many leads have been kind enough to teach me new dances like Redowa and such. I really enjoy learning new dance moves and such from others. It's also a great chance to meet all sorts of people, from local students and working professionals to retired seniors. I plan on going back every week! See this more detailed writeup: https://joydanceblog.wordpress.com/2016/07/13/dance-spot-friday-night-waltz/ read more

I started dancing when I was 16, a couple people recommended FNW. The atmosphere is fantastic for learning & even if you do not go to lessons most dancers are willing to teach on the floor. Lessons are from 7-9 with beginners downstairs taught by Tom Hill who is a fantastic dancer & fun instructor & Intermediate upstairs with whomever the guest teacher is for the week. We often have Richard Powers, the Social Dance Professor from Stanford as an guest instructor which has been unreal to learn from him. Most people who go on a weekly basis come at 9 when the dancing begins (9-12). You can come by yourself or bring some friends since partners are rotated. The number in attendance & average age often varies mainly depending on college schedules & other dance events the same evening. The dance itself is divided into 4 dance sets that include variations of waltz, polkas, schottische, both east & west coast swing, Congress of Vienna, Bohemian national polka, salsa, tango, etc. On another note people are not afraid to ask you to dance & when asked and you are unsure just ask if they would be able to teach you, more often than not they are more than willing to. ( Many of the FNWers also attend events such as PEERS, Gaskells, Vintage Invasion, Fezziwiggs at the annual Dicken's Christmas Fair at the Cow Palace, East Bay Waltz, etc.) I love FNW! Admission fees : Lesson & Dance $12 Dance $8 Students $8 read more