Where to find Country/Contra/Square dances in Santa Barbara

All styles have started dancing again, though in some cases at a reduced schedule from before COVID.

Frequently

• The Santa Barbara Country Dance Society usually has two weekly dances:
  • Contra Dance (almost) every 1st+3rd+5th Sunday night at the Carrillo Ballroom (starting 15 Oct. 2023)
  • English Country Dance 1st+3rd+5th Sundays, 2pm at the First Presbyterian Church of SB.
    Note: this is different from the pre-COVID time
• Scottish Country Dance (almost) every Thursday night at Gustafson Dance Studio put on by Los Angeles branch of the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society.
• Square Dances - plus level - (almost) every Wednesday night at St. Mark's United Methodist Church put on by "Taws and Paws" and called by Vic Ceder

All but the square dance welcome newcomers (the square dance does too, but you must take a class first). So feel free to show up. Beginners are advised to come early for a little pre-dance instruction.

Yearly

The SB Country Dance Society hosts two large week-end events a year. In early/mid February we have the Winter Dreams Ball for English Country Dancing, and in October the Harvest Moon Contra Dance.

Randomly

From time to time the local Longsword Group (also part of the SBCDS) puts on a sword dance. This style has no fixed schedule in town (pending on external performances as it does), but if you are interested come to the local English Dance to let us know. If you have never seen a longsword dance: Look here.

This website is copyright © 2021,2022,2023,2024 by George W. Williams V
My work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Most of the dances have more restrictive licensing, see my notes on copyright, the individual dance pages should mention when some rights are waived.