I visited from out of town after finding out about this weekly dance on the internets. It felt like any other swing community - friendly and warm. The only difference was that I saw a lot more Balboa than I'm used to which, you know, makes sense in this area. I paid $10 cash for admission because there happened to be a live band the night I visited. Leads were very nice and I danced with several. They had a birthday/visitor jam so I really got to dance with several! I enjoyed sitting back and watching the dancers as well - there are so many great dancers here! A few dancers I chatted with told me about other local dances and some upcoming parties. Meeshi and the community are doing a great job keeping swing alive in southern California. Long live Frankie Manning!
Review Source:My fiance and I recently completed the 90-day challenge with Meeshi and Yvette (amazing deal, by the way - if you do not know about this, you seriously need to check it out!), and we enjoyed dancing in general and the classes in particular so much that we are going to sign up for another 90-day challenge!! Neither of us has much experience with any kind of dance, so we were both a little nervous, but we never felt put on the spot or embarrassed, and we had a total blast the whole time! Having a male and female instructor was great - not only are Meeshi and Yvette fun to watch, but also my fiance is forever indebted to Yvette for teaching me how to follow, and I am forever indebted to Meeshi for teaching my fiance how to lead :)! Â
My fiance and I also started taking private lessons with Meeshi because we want help choreographing and learning a dance for our wedding. Meeshi is a great teacher and has so many fun ideas! My fiance and I cannot wait to take more lessons and show off all the cool moves we learned!!
FYI - you do not need to have a partner to take this class (great place to meet others with similar interests), but you have the option of staying together if you come with someone.
If you've always wanted to learn how to swing dance, but were afraid to begin, stop worrying. Start here! If you're looking for somewhere to swing dance, this is the spot.
Firehouse is a safe, nonjudgmental space for dancers at all skill levels and ages. Everyone's friendly and willing to help you learn new moves or practice your steps.
As a beginner, I started out with the 90-Day Swing Challenge, taught by Meeshi and Yvette. It's $100/person for 12 weeks (1 90-minute class/week), including the dance session after class, during which you learn East Coast Swing, Lindy Hop, and Charleston basics. They break down the steps and teach you to feel the motion and tune into the music, as opposed to focusing only on the mechanics and what your feet are doing. They also post instructional review videos on Facebook for practice.
If you practice, you'll definitely be able to swing dance by the end of it. (Don't have someone to practice with? Stay for the dancing afterwards and ask people to dance. Really, it's okay, even if you suck. Just change your shirt if you're a sweaty mess.) You'll also get to meet a lot of cool people during class as you rotate partners throughout.
The DJs are generally good about playing a mix of tempos, so you can do everything from lindy hop to balboa and even blues if it's slow enough.
Well, I haven't gone to a Firehouse Swing Dance since they moved, but I've danced at several of Meeshi's Firehouse events when they were at the La Jolla Firehouse (for which they are named) and the San Diego Women's Club, and I used to dance (salsa and bachata) regularly at Queen Bee's plenty of times, so have no problem recommending anyone interested in (lindy) swing dancing to go check it out. They usually offer classes at different levels from a variety of very good instructors prior to their public dances (which alternate between some nights with just a DJ and others with a live band). The main drawback of the Queen Bee's location is finding parking.
Meeshi is now also promoting DanceWalking - so if you end up parking far away, it's a perfect time to practice....
Giant beginner class! You don't need a partner, just come out and smile. There are a zillion willing dancers of all levels. This is the most fun you can have in North Park. Extremely talented and exciting instructional staff. Don't miss out on a chance to meet some amazing new friends / lovers / dancers!
Review Source:Stopped by to dance a bit, since I'm from out of town, and dragged 3 of my friends with me. Two of them had never danced before, so they were in the beginner class (which was HUGE) and my other one fell asleep in the car, so I left him there while I went to the lesson, with the promise I'd call him when social dance started.
The lesson was fun and informative - lots of stuff was thrown at us, without too much time to practice them in between, though. From what I hear, my two friends (who were very scared of dancing) had a blast at the beginner lesson. I even danced a couple songs with them before they left for the night.
People were very friendly and varied in skill level. I'm still a beginner myself, but still had an amazing time dancing with all the different people, even when I did make mistakes. It was so odd seeing how many follows there were! Definitely not used to it, coming from San Jose.
Would love to come back. Really fun music choices, nice people, fair sized dance floor, and an empty room where you can just relax or use the mirrors to practice.
Fun well taught classes in a cool venue. The teachers have an entertaining way of teaching. In the advanced classes the teachers are well traveled dance competitors. After the lessons is open dancing. Lots of students and skilled dancers in attendance.
Great LIVE MUSIC on some nights in a style you wont hear anywhere else unless. All geared toward swing and Lindy dancing.
I started going to the firehouse for swing dancing about 3 months ago now. I fell in love. Wednesdays are now officially reserved for dancing and lessons at the firehouse.
Meeshi and Alena are excellent instructors. They make the classes fun, upbeat, informative, and easy to understand. Don't be afraid if you are a first time learner. They break everything down into steps. The dancers are also very friendly. I have made many new friends over the past several months. I am really happy I took a chance and crawled out of my shell and gave the 90 day challenge a try.
Its an excellent price and you get more than what you pay for.
Also you dont need to take a partner to go to the classes. There are mostly singles there and Meeshi and Alena do a great job of rotating everyone around throughout each lesson. Go for it!
Five Stars! Â Five Stars! Â Five Stars!
Why?
Because this places let Cattle Decapitation (Vegan Death Metal band formed in 1996), Swing Kids (broke up in 1997), and Bastard Noise (formed in 1991), all play together under the same room! Â This line-up was probably their first time together since 1996/1997. Â
The venue was indie and super clean. Â Just okay acoustics, but that was probably the sound man's fault. Â Keep it up!!
This is a SUPER fun place! :) Wanna swing dance? this is the place to go.
The ooooone thing that REALLY bothers me is that there is TOO MANY PEOPLE!!! Usually to point where your're bumping into people when you dance and you don't get one on one time with the instructors Meeshi and Alena (AWESOME people by the way) who teach the beginners.
You know the story...My friend convinced me to try swing dancing with her but I was only going to try it for one night. However, I got hooked! I've completely fallen in love with Swing dancing and I can't seem to get enough of it. Â
The Firehouse is a wonderful venue.The atmosphere is friendly and relaxed. The lessons are well-explained and demonstrated. The instructors are professional and encouraging. And the people are great. It feels like family. I've made some really wonderful friends through the Firehouse.
I wanted to learn how to swing dance for a long time, and for various reasons alway found an excuse not to go. Then my coworker Ashley brought me to firehouse and I haven't looked back since!! I cannot say enough good things about this place, the instructors are easy to understand and a joy to learn from.
The best part about the place is the attitude. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming! You never need to worry about being a beginner because everyone adjusts to your level.
If you have reservations about coming alone- don't worry about it!! The instructors encourage everyone to rotate partners throughout out the lesson because you learn more, and in the words of Meeshi it's much easier to take criticism from someone who is not your partner!
Make sure to call ahead to make sure that they are accepting drop-ins, and bring cash! They are cash only, but there is an ATM across the street if you forget :)
Where shall I begin? Firehouse Swing at Queen Bee's is AMAZING fun! All of the teachers are skilled, funny and awesome at breaking down the moves so that they're easy to pick up. It's a great way to meet people. Guys, there's ALWAYS a surplus of girls, so come and turn the charm on. Just like one of the teachers said last night, "If you can dance, you're automatically in the top 20% of guys." So true. Everyone is super nice, and the dance starting at 9 is way fun. Great music, easy connection AND inexpensive. A perfect way to spend pretty much any evening!
Review Source:If you like swing dancing, this place is so fun. Just about everyone I've met here has been an interesting, kind, and fun person and I've made a lot of good new friends just going dancing here. I was welcomed with open arms when I came as a total beginner and I've had some of the best nights dancing here, I highly recommend it, especially as a place to start to get to know people in the dance community. Typically cheap social dancing cover. The cafe in the back makes pretty delicious fruit smoothies...
Review Source:Great instruction, great music and very welcoming for beginners. I felt quite reluctant since I didn't know what I was doing and several people made me feel at ease and comfortable. Meeshie and Amber particularly helped me and made me feel at home. I can't wait to go back. Thank you for keeping tradition and class in our generation!
Review Source:Once upon a time, in the late 90's...
Here's the story of a lovely lady
Who was bringing up three very lovely girls. (Actually...no)
All of them had hair of BROWN, like their mother,
ERICA C, the hottest girl!
Here's the story, of a man named CHUN P,
Who was busy with three boys of his own, ( Um...no)
They were four men, living all together,
Yet they were all alone.
Till the one day when the lady met this fellow
And they knew it was much more than a hunch,
That this two would somehow form a family.
That's the way we all became the CHUN P Bunch.
The CHUN P Bunch, The CHUN P Bunch! Â
That's the way we all became the CHUN P Bunch!
OK, so above story is not 100% true, but the part where ERICA C eventually becomes ERICA P is true...we met on the dance floor. Â Who knows...maybe you too can meet that special someone on the swing dance floor?
Wednesday nights...come check it out! Â Large smooth hardwood dance floor, good music, and friendly dancers. Â All ages...and strangely, lately it feels like 1999 all over again with the Girl to Boy ratio about 3 to 1! Â Little cafe built in but no alcohol...but then again, its not easy swing dancing after the 4th cocktail ;-)
As for the venue itself, checkout the reviews...4.5 Stars:
<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/queen-bees-san-diego">http://www.yelp.com/biz/…</a>
Firehouse is one of the two best places for swing dancing down in San Diego. You know it must be good if I drive an hour and half from Orange County to dance here!
I love that there are three different rooms to choose from, depending on what you want to dance to at that moment. This new location is smaller than the previous one, but the variety in music choices is a nice change of pace. The main lindy room is where most people are dancing, but there is also a blues/west coast room in with the cafe where you can buy snacks and water, and of course my personal favorite...the Bal room....there is some seriously amazing music going on in there!
It does get really warm here when you're dancing, but they have the biggest fan I've ever seen in a venue in my life that you can stand in front of to cool off. I wish they would put a fan in the Bal room however...it's like a sauna in there with just a few open windows and no fan...but that doesn't stop me from dancing anyway!
There are dancers from all different levels here and I've found that the San Diego dancers are some of the nicest dancers around. I'm always guaranteed plenty of fun dances when I'm down there.
The Firehouse provides not only a spectacular place to dance, but also a wonderful and inviting sense of community. Â At this venue you will not only gain the skills to bring your social dancing to a whole new level--but also network into an outgoing and interesting troupe of fellow dancers. Â Meeshi has the uncommon ability to inspire freedom of expression on his dance floor--making you feel at home as soon as you walk through the doors. Â So bring your creativity, spontaneity, love, and dance shoes, and join us a Queen Bees.
Review Source:
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