means that the floor is clean enough for you to wear dance shoes.
Disclaimer: This is not meant to be advertising. It's merely informative
means that the floor is clean enough for you to wear dance shoes.
If you plan to do a lot of club dancing, buy a good set of earplugs, and use them!
If you are looking for opportunities to dance West Coast Swing, call the WEFT blues hotline at 359-5483. They list most of the live blues around town each week. Local blues bands include The Impalas, and Keith Harden.
The Blind Pig, 6 Taylor, Champaign, 351-7444. Variety of live bands and music every night. Often gets too crowded to move, but when there's space, it's terrific.
Bradley's, 1906 W. Bradley Ave, Champaign,
352-8714. C/W dancing on Wed through Sat nites. Free country dance
lessons 8-9, open dancing after that. Modern country music played -
lots of swings, west coast swings, country 2-steps, nightclub 2-steps,
waltz. Can get crowded late at night. $2 cover. Large dance floor,
and a smaller dance floor on the second level.
Chester Street, 63 Chester St. Champaign,
356-5607. - Tuesday is disco night - $2 cover, but free before 9pm.
Nice floor & mirrors too. Gets crowded late at night.
D.I. Tea (afternoon) and evening dances at
the Illini Union (several each semester). Free to U of I students,
faculty and staff. $2 for general public.
Doyles Lounge - In the Chancellor Hotel, 1501
S. Neil St, Champaign, 352-8178. Tiny floor and gets crowded late at
night.
Gym Dandy in Sidell, IL (288-9298),
4,000-square-foot hardwood dance floor, smoke-free/alcohol-free, snack
bar available.
The Hideaway Restaurant, 701 Devonshire,
Champaign. Nice dance floor. Blues bands on Thursday night
Illini Union Dances and Formals (several each
semester). Slow tempo music, and lots of silly mixers.
Joe's Brewery, 706 S. 5th St, Champaign,
384-1790, has a nice dance floor. Go sit in the back, order lunch,
and dance while they are preparing your food. It is the only time
that you'll have room, because at night it gets too crowded to move!
The Lafayette Club, 107 E. Lafayette,
Bloomington, IL. Enormous dance floor, tablecloths, chandeliers, real
cushioned chairs, a bar, great ballroom music, a quality sound system,
and a tasteful light system. It's a 50 minute drive from C-U; take
I-74 to Business 51 North. Cross under the 55 overpass, and pull into
their huge parking lot on your right. Each Friday and Saturday night
they have a live country, jazz, blues or rock band. Ballroom Dances
sometimes. - call for current info at (309) 828-1212.
Land of Mexico, Green St., Champaign. Hot Merengue, Salsa (Mambo) and Cumbia dancing Sat nites, 10:30pm to 1:30am. $2 cover.
The Regent Ballroom, 1406 Regency Drive W.,
Savoy, 359-5333. Ballroom dancing every Fri, 8-11 pm for $5. C/W
dancing on some Saturday nights. From Champaign, take S. Neil St.,
which becomes U.S. 45, to Burwash Ave. (The northwest corner of
U.S. 45 and Burwash has a car dealership, Twin City Honda; the
southwest corner has a gas station.) Turn west onto Burwash,
immediately north of the Savoy 14 cinemas, then drive several blocks
to turn south onto Regency Drive West. The Regent is less than a block
south, on the east side of Regency Drive West. Free parking. Ballroom
dancing every Friday, 8:00-11:00pm, except in December, when dances
are held on Wednesdays, 7:30-10:30pm.$5/person. Recorded music.
First, third and fifth weeks of each month are "novice" dances
(emphasis on waltz, foxtrot, rumba, cha cha, single swing/jive,
triple/west coast swing, and also featuring tango, quickstep, hustle,
nightclub two-step, polka); second and fourth weeks are "advanced"
dances (all the preceding dances plus Viennese waltz, bolero, mambo,
merengue, samba, with more even distribution). Occasional theme
dances.
The Rose Bowl Tavern, 106 N. Race St, Urbana,
367-7031. Across from the Courier Cafe. Older country music played,
live band almost every night (closed Mon). Western Wheels, an
excellent band, plays Sun and Tues nights. Lots of swings, west coast
swings, niteclub two steps, occasional waltz. Gets crowded on Fri +
Sat nights. $2 cover on Fri + Sat.
The Community building in Tuscola, 122
W. North Central (take I-57 south, then once in Tuscola, first street
north of the railroad and one block west of Main Street). The dances
will be 7:30 - 10:30 PM Music is recorded ballroom-type. The floor is
LARGE -- this is basically an auditorium -- and linoleum. There is
usually plenty of room for dancing. And only one mixer after the
break. The $5 cover charge includes punch and Judy's home-baked
goodies. For dance info, all Rick or Judy Vest at 253-4845.
TK Wendel's, 1/2 mile east of Urbana on Route 130, 1 mile south of Route 150. 367-2255, Big dance floor, C/W on Thursdays
Thunderfoot Junction - a new C&W dance hall in Lincoln, Il. It is located on Rt 10 on the far west side of Lincoln. It is open every night except Tu and Wed. It cost $3.50 to get in on Fri and Sat and $2.50 the other nights. They open at 6:30. Sundays are family nights and there are a lot of kids. Saturdays are usually the most crowded. They have a floor about 3/4 the size of the Lafayette, however they have a rail/wall around the floor and enforce dance etiquette, line dancers in middle, flow dancers on outside, etc. All music so far has been by DJ.
Hometown Lanes :
201 East Grove, Rantoul , 893-0795,
This bowling alley in Rantoul was converted into a dance hall. It has
2700 square feet of floor and opened in late October '95. Heading N on
45 out of Urbana/ Champaign, Turn left onto East Grove (you have gone
through 4 stoplights), it's at the end of the first block, on the right.
At the present time, the dance hall is open for dancing Thursday through
Saturday from 8 in the evening to 1 in the morning. On Sundays and
Thursdays they have Country Line Dance lessons from 8-9 followed by
kareoke. They alternate between DJ's and live bands, information for
each night is published on a monthly calendar. There is a $2.00 cover
charge on the nights with live bands. Currently, the bands and DJ's
play country music.
Supermarket aisles are great too... just watch out for those carts.
Back to Aria's Dance Page
Back to Aria's Home Page
These pages have been accessed times since
2/1/96