Hot spots to kick up your heels in the Flathead

Red lights illuminated the dozen-or-so couples scattered across the dance floor at the Blue Moon Nite Club last Wednesday night. April Howard wove through the throngs of two-steppers, dolling out instruction over her headset microphone and occasionally stopping to run through a movement with one dancer or another. The dancers were decked out in anything from cowboy boots to open-toed sandals and some bore intense looks of concentration while others easily laughed off their mistakes with a partner.

“It can be intimidating at first. I think the big thing is people will come out and see people dancing and go, ‘Oh, I want to do that,’” Howard said. “Try it — the first time out is the hardest, (but) don’t give up.”

Howard has been dancing for 21 years and teaching at the Blue Moon for the past decade. For Howard, dance was in many ways, a life-saver and she hopes the practice can be the same thing for others. More than two decades ago, her health had deteriorated to the point where she was bedridden. But slowly, she began attending dance classes. At first, she could only make it through the first 20 minutes, but week after week she returned and was eventually able to complete an entire course. When the previous Blue Moon instructor retired, Howard stepped up to the plate, and the rest, as they say, is history.

“For me personally it was a godsend,” she said. “It’s just good for the self esteem. I’ve seen a lot of people come in that are fresh out of a broken relationship or just feeling really low about themselves, and just for them to be able to learn something helps them.”

She rotates her class offerings each week — for example, this week’s class is the cha-cha while next week she’ll teach the two-step. Dancers can come solo or with a partner, and men especially are in demand, she said.

“We’re just short of guys and I don’t know what it is,” she said. “I know a lot are nervous or are really insecure.”

She said some particularly shy dancers will take a private lesson before hitting the bar dance floor, but Howard also recommends sampling different styles of dance to find the one that resonates with the dancer the most.

“Don’t just give up,” she said. “Sometimes it’s the song or the music that resonates with you and the dance comes easy because you’re moving to the music that you want to move to.”

Her classes at the Blue Moon are held Wednesdays from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. and are free of charge. She also teaches five or four session courses at the Elks in Kalispell. On Oct. 19, she’ll begin a four week two-step class from 7 to 9 p.m. The cost is $32 and dancers are required attend the first week. On Sept. 25, Howard is also hosting a ladies night at the Elks from 7 to 9 p.m. where dancers will walk through movements and practice turns in styles such as the cha cha, rumba and night club.

Howard said many people come to her classes for the social aspect of dance. She’s also introduced more than a few couples over the years.

“I have actually introduced I don’t know how many that ended up couples … two or three of them ended up married,” said Howard. “Something as simple as ‘she needs a partner’ or ‘he needs a partner’ and I move them over there and that’s it, they’re an item after that.”

She recommends beginners try East Coast Swing — a versatile dance that’s easy to learn — or the country two-step, popular at the local bar scene.

East Coast Swing is the bread and butter of North End Swing — an independent dance group that hosts monthly social dances in a ballroom above the Sassafras art gallery in downtown Kalispell. The social dances draw one of the widest age ranges in the valley — high school students can be spotted dancing alongside retirees — and dance goers frequently swap partners so everyone who wants to gets a turn on the dance floor.

Group co-founder Levi Hoch said North End Swing got its start in 2011 after he met Pete Milne, who introduced him to the world of East Coast Swing. They took lessons, attended workshops and danced at the Bigfork Inn until the band there stopped playing.

“We started meeting in living rooms and gyms — wherever we could find a floor, basically — and one day we found a space that we could afford to rent, just pooling our money together,” Hoch said.

Thirty people showed up for the group’s first dance at the Sassafras and 40 came to the second social, two weeks later.

Now they host dances on a monthly basis and promote a family-friendly and alcohol-free environment. For most dances, admission is $5, which includes a beginner’s lesson at 7 p.m., followed by social dancing until 11 p.m.

“We promote dancing with different people — people don’t have to, if they have a partner they can dance with them all night, but we find it’s more fun to dance with other people,” Hoch added. “It’s really impossible to come and not have a good time. The great thing with swing dancing is that, with as structured as it is to begin with, anybody can do it. Some people who are more rhythmically inclined can take it and run with it.”

The group’s next dance, scheduled for Oct. 27, is black-light themed, so white or neon outfits are encouraged. The cost to attend is $10 and includes glow sticks and highlighters to embellish one’s attire.

One would be remiss in talking about dance in the Flathead without mentioning the Kalispell Eagles Club, which is arguably home to the best dance floor in the valley. The large floor adjacent to the bar fills with couples on Saturday nights from 7 to 9 p.m. Last Saturday evening, the pairs scooted around the floor to a variety of country jams performed by a live band. Both couples and singles were in attendance but gentlemen regularly rotated partners so single ladies weren’t sitting idly for too long. The cost to partake is $5 for members and $6 for nonmembers. The Eagles also hosts the Kalispell Country Cloggers at 5:30 p.m. on Mondays.

For those looking to upgrade their dancing skills, there are a host of local lessons in numerous disciplines, ranging from country two-step to folk dancing and swing.

The Remington in Whitefish hosts West Coast Swing lessons on Wednesdays and Latin classes on Thursdays with instructor Tylesha Thomas. For the month of September on both dance nights, a beginning course will be held from 6-7 p.m., intermediate from 7-8 p.m. and social dancing for the following hour. The dance floor is set off from the bar, so although the space is open to the public, it’s away from the main thoroughfare of bar-goers and billiards players.

Last Wednesday Thomas led five students through beginning and then intermediate West Coast Swing moves.

Participant Lily Kirsanow said she was happy to see a West Coast Swing class open in the Valley, noting that for her, dance has been a constant companion as she’s moved around the country.

“It would get me out of the house and I would meet people. It’s how I would find a new social group every time I moved,” Kirsanow said. “This is the seventh state I’ve lived in.”

Flathead Valley Community College is offering four styles of dance this fall through their adult education program. October’s traditional jitterbug swing session is fully booked, but instructor Roz Kristoffersen will lead a second series beginning Nov. 13. The class meets on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the off-campus gateway center, located on U.S. 2 West across from the Hampton Inn. Registration for the five-session course is $45. Courses in Salsa and Western Two Step will open Oct. 23, and western waltz and ballroom will start Nov. 13. To register, visit https://ace.fvcc.edu/ShowGroups.awp and select “Dance.”

The Kalispell International Folk Dancers light up the dance floor at the Salvation Army gym every Saturday from 7 to 10 p.m. The group, which has been around since 1998, practices a host of dances from around the world, such as Bulgarian and Romanian folk dances. Some disciplines are line-based and for others, dancers move in a circle with varying hand positions.

Beginners classes are held from 7 to 8 p.m. with intermediate dancing to follow. The group manages a detailed website with information on global dance styles, upcoming events and more, which can be found at http://montanafolkdance.org.

Longtime local instructor Fred Sego will teach classes in foxtrot, swing, and an introduction to ballroom waltz this fall at the Faith Lutheran Church, located at 405 Liberty St. in Kalispell. Each style will be broken down in five sessions held 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays. The foxtrot class began Sept. 14, swing will start Oct. 12 and ballroom waltz will begin Nov. 2. To register, call Sego at 406-314-4269. Also putting on a ballroom dance class is the Kalispell Senior Center, which hosts an introductory session at 11 a.m. on Thursdays for the month of September. The center is located at 40 11th St. W., Ste. 110.

New and experienced dancers alike are invited to Dance Camp Kalispell — a single-day workshop featuring four hours of ballroom instruction followed by evening performances and a social dance on Oct. 14. The event is hosted by dancers Laurel Rose, a competitive Pro-Am ballroom instructor and Sean Brunell, the current World Pro-Am Standard Ballroom Champion.

Classes will be held at the Outlaw Inn and Ballroom in the Fairbridge Inn and Suites starting at 10 a.m. with beginning social ballroom followed by an intermediate session at 11 a.m. Full day pass holders will enjoy a catered lunch at noon before the afternoon sessions kick off at 1 p.m. with beginning social Latin and intermediate to follow. Dancers will reconvene on the dance floor at 7 p.m. for a ballroom performance by instructors Brunell and Rose followed by a social dance until 9 p.m. Half-day passes are available for $60, full-day passes for $90 and a full-day pass plus the ballroom social for $100. Tickets for only the evening dance and show are on sale for $20. Passes may be purchased online at http://ballroomdanceproductions.com.

Reporter Mackenzie Reiss may be reached at 758-4433 or mreiss@dailyinterlake.com.