📍224 West Bruce Street, Milwaukee, WI

Anodyne has several locations. This venue is absolutely superb. The wood floor is always clean, the atmosphere is cozy, sound is crisp, and they have a bar that serves a moderate selection of beers and wines. Being a full coffee shop they offer coffee-based beverages and other non-alcoholic options. Need a snack? Cookies and muffins are for sale as with any coffee shop.

Since the wood floor is nearly always very clean, dancers with knee issues will want to wear shoes with suede or rubber soles to lessen the extra movement. Balboa dancers can go wild on this floor.

Street parking is usually plentiful around the venue and on the neighboring blocks.

📍105 South Main Street, Thiensville, WI

They frequently host talented blues bands. It’s a fantastic outdoor venue for listening and casual dancing, but less ideal for structured swing and blues dancing.

The danceable space is about 200 square feet of pavers in front of the band. Pavers have a grippy surface and dancers that frequently slide and shuffle will need to modify or risk soreness. Swing and blues dancers can typically get space to do more exaggerated movements the first half of the event. When the crowd gets sufficiently socially-lubricated, the dance space fills quickly.

The venue has a full bar and numerous food options. The service is surprisingly fast for the crowd size. Parking in the lot behind the space and within the surrounding couple of blocks is easy.

📍700 West Lexington Boulevard, Glendale, WI

Aptly named, this Germanic-style beer hall has spacious seating with about 300 square feet of dance floor in front of the band.

The floor is composite vinyl over concrete. The flooring is textured with some friction. Bring shoes with leather or some other hard sole. Dancers with more sensitive knees and hips will want to space out their dances.

The beer selection is great and they do have a full liquor selection. With a full restaurant menu, this is a great venue to catch a meal with the entertainment.

📍17 West Juneau Ave, Milwaukee, WI

There is a lower and upper ballroom – Blue Ribbon Hall and Great Hall, respectively. History buffs can read more on Historic Milwaukee.

Blue Ribbon Hall

The lower ballroom is likely the most picturesque venue available in or around Milwaukee. The walls are adorned with painted artwork when the facility was constructed. There is a second-level balcony that overlooks the dance floor that provides a respite for tired dancers to sip a cool beverage and watch their fellow dancers. In warm weather, step out into the Captain’s Courtyard to converse under the stars.

The venue features a wood floor that is nearly always well kept. This venue is rented to parties and weddings and parts of the floor can be sticky. So, consider bringing two pairs of shoes: one with suede and one with leather soles.

There is a full bar and plentiful parking. This venue is near the Fiserv Forum and parking is scarce during Bucks games.

Great Hall

[More info coming]

📍504 West National Avenue, Studio A, Milwaukee, WI

This building was the former home to the Milwaukee Ballet. The venue has a very spacious and aesthetically pleasing interior. One wall is adorned with mirrors as this space is primarily used by the Latin dance community for both teaching and socials. In dry weather the composite wood floor is very slick. Strongly consider bringing both semi-grippy shoes in addition to leather or hard-soled shoes. Street shoes are not allowed to protect this pristine floor. Events hosted at this venue are typically BYOB.

📍2301 Springdale Road, Waukesha, WI

The Waukesha Elks Lodge #400 has a larger upper primary ballroom dance space that is around 2,000 square feet with a modest dance space in the lower bar area. The wood tile floor is immaculately clean and smooth. Leather sole shoes are too slick for many dancers. Suede soles are perfect. The ballroom is spacious but bouncing of sound isn’t an issue with the acoustic ceiling tiles dampening echoing. The location is easily situated two turns off the freeway and parking the parking lot is sizable. A full bar is right off the ballroom.

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This historic building was constructed in 1915 and has a rich history in the Riverwest neighborhood. Changing ownership several times over the last ~110 years, it was more recently purchased by the Riverwest Investment Cooperative (RIC). The RIC is a community organization that protects and renovates neighborhood properties. In 2022 the RIC chose the current management team that has gone on to fully renovate the ballroom and provide much needed updates throughout the building – breathing new life into this gorgeous building. 2,000 of the 3,000 square foot ballroom is dedicated dance floor. A beautiful wood bar and (soon to be) patio are to the side of the floor. Street parking is easy with many spots available around the adjacent blocks. Full bar with a charming grab-and-go bar cooler. Food will be available when the kitchen renovations are complete.

📍1920 South 37th Street, Milwaukee, WI

There is about 150 square feet of dance space in front of the band stage. Four swing dance couples or eight blues dance couples can comfortably navigate the floor. The finish is old floor tile with a few missing chunks. The condition of the floor tile is adequate. The tile is over wood subfloor and there is some give, which is preferred over tile installed on concrete.

A very sizable patio has been added. The patio is not danceable for swing/blues. The full bar has very reasonably priced drinks. Expect beer and typical cocktails at a low price, but don’t expect fancy or obscure drinks.

This historical building is kept well and the ambiance is is very well suited for dancing and enjoying bands. Read more about its history.

📍2461 South St. Claire Street, Milwaukee, WI

This venue is a modest-sized bar area that opens into a roughly 1,000 sq ft dance hall with stage. The wood floor is always clean and provides a very nice danceable surface. The full bar also has a variety of food options. In all, this venue is very dance friendly and and our dance community has used this venue to comfortably host dances with up to 80 people.

Street parking is typically very easy to find.

Puddler’s boasts as being the second oldest tavern in Milwaukee. Read about the very fascinating history of this building.

📍6139 Beloit Road, West Allis, WI

This pleasant townie bar has a surprisingly decent wood dance floor. Parking is easy. The bar is well stocked and the space in general is well kept.

The band plays on an elevated stage overlooking 200 square feet of dance space. Schotskis regularly hosts karaoke, Taco Tuesday, various bands, and Packer games. All this fun comes with a bit of a price to the dancer. The beautiful wood floor is a bit sticky. On the night this review was made, the stickiness was noticeable for the first hour only as the dance shoes scuffed it clean.

This is a good venue for dance crowds up to 30.

📍S76W17745 Janesville Road, Muskego, WI

The Suburban Bourbon is a gastropub with American fare and a sizable bourbon selection on the first floor and an entertainment/dance space in the lower level.

The typical entertainment for swing dancing is the bi-weekly Swing Explosion band. This band also frequently has Sinatra tribute nights.

The floor is vinyl composite on concrete. The vinyl imitates wood with a slightly raised grain. This presents an issue depending on the sole of the shoe with sliding being easier with the grain than against. Hard sole and leather soles are strongly suggested over rubber or suede.

The beer selection is modest but does have the range of basics. The cocktails are not as sophisticated as some may want, but the wine pours are heavy.

📍2335 S Kinnickinnic Ave, Milwaukee, WI

This bar is surrounded by many fine eating options. The bar itself consists of a quaint and well-styled indoor space with a front patio. The Hungry Williams band is a recurring artist with live music being frequent.

During cool weather, this bar is better suited for listening to bands as indoor dancing space is extremely limited. In warm weather dancing on the patio and the front portion of the bar is encouraged by staff.

The patio concrete isn’t polished but is fairly smooth. The front bar area does have polished concrete and is very danceable, but small.

Reviews of venues that have closed or are not hosting danceable events anymore.

• Saloon on Calhoun with Bacon

📍4437 North Ravenswood Avenue, Chicago, IL

By day this venue is a physical fitness and martial arts studio adorned with medieval weaponry. The floor is varnished plywood with years of wear creating a wonderfully smooth dancefloor. In dry weather, bring semi-grippy shoes if you prefer less slide. The venue does get rather warm in summer months. The dance events held at this venue are typically BYOB.