Everything people ask before their first night.

No. Almost every night on this list rotates partners during the lesson, and open dancing is ask-and-be-asked. Coming alone is the norm rather than the exception.

Pick a night with a beginner lesson and arrive for the lesson, not the social. An hour of rotating partners gives you three or four moves that actually work, and you walk into the social already warmed up.

Smooth-soled shoes are the only thing that really matters — rubber soles grip the floor and fight every turn. Otherwise dress like you are going out, and bring layers, because rooms get warm.

It varies by room and we only publish what we can verify, so covers are not listed here. Expect anywhere from free to about fifteen dollars, and bring cash — plenty of doors are cash-only even when the bar takes cards.

Before anything is published we check that the venue is currently open, that the night runs on the cadence claimed (weekly is not the same as monthly), and that the location is right. Aggregator listings are treated as leads, never as sources — they carried dead listings for years.

Salsa is faster and turn-heavy; bachata is slower with a four-count side-to-side basic that most people can hold after one lesson. Nearly every Latin night in both metros plays both, so you will end up learning each.

The newsletter goes out every Friday and the site is updated as nights change. A listing that stops being true gets pulled rather than left up.

Send it through the submit form. It goes into a review queue, gets checked against the venue, and is published once it holds up. Adding an event is free.