Partner Dancing
We love partner dancing! Our culture at Starlight Strut is to ask different people to dance and to try both “lead” and “follow” roles.
In the Starlight Room, our partner dance mix is primarily Country-Western Two-Step and Country Waltz with some West Coast Swing and a sprinkle of Night-Club Two-Step and East Coast Swing.
Country-Western Two-Step and Waltz
Our version of country-western two-step was born out of San Francisco-based LGBTQ country dance clubs from decades past. We dance two-step with a beginner-friendly “slow-slow-quick-quick” as opposed to the rest of the country that does it with a “quick-quick-slow-slow.”
The country waltz follows the counts “1-2-3- 4-5-6.”
Both dances move counter-clockwise around the dance floor.
West Coast Swing
Gaining in popularity, west-coast swing is danced in slots in the middle of the dance floor. Learning to lead and follow is a tad more challenging than two-step. Luckily, there are plenty of classes available in the Bay Area.
The tempo of the music is often slower, and those who feel comfortable will partner up to “shadow-dance” around the perimeter of the room.
