Just Knock West Coast Swing at the Dance Loft

Melissa’s the best. Talented, entertained infectious and a great teacher. She puts her heart into all her endeavors.

If you want to learn West Coast Swing from the best and have fun while doing it, this is the best place for you. If you live in San Francisco you can’t miss this opportunity!

Solid instruction, high talented dancers, intimate space, snacks, decent parking, always felt safe.

Easy parking and quick exit from 280 make this place is much less of pain to get to compared to typical SF destinations from peninsula. There is NO sign whatsoever and the door could be closed. Just knock so they can open the door for you. Mr & Mrs Miscellaneous is just across the street! Too bad they don’t open in the evening. their ice cream would be perfect after dancing.
The organizer/​instructor, Melissa Rutz, is a champions level West Coast Swing dancer and you can easily find her amazing performances on YouTube. Despite that, I find her lesson was approachable and good paced even for newcomers.
I’ve learned bit of Waltzes, Latin and other Swings, I consider West Coast Swing the most fun because it’s so versatile, it can be danced to variety of music. When you hear a top 40/​popular songs on the radio, you can most likely dance WCS to it.
Didn’t stay here for too long but all the songs I heard there were all fun to dance to. Good variety as well. People here were friendly and those whom I danced with and watched dancing were very good.
The space is quite small but there weren’t too many people so I didn’t have to worry about hitting other couples. I do like the floor, it was about right, not too slippery not too sticky.

Can’t believe there is only one other review for this place. Val and Melissa are WONDERFUL. The studio is so fun to dance in and Melissa plays great music and is a great West Coast Swing teacher. I am a beginner but plenty of people who have been dancing for years still go to her beginner class because she teaches the «finesse» so well.
Parking is easy around there.

No review yet for «Just Knock»? Well then let me enlighten you, Unilocal World.
First, if you aren’t familiar with West Coast Swing, you need to be. When we say «swing,» we’re not talking zoot suits, big band music, and flipping a girl over your head. West Coast Swing is sexier, more sophisticated, and can be danced to contemporary music (R&B, rock, etc.). Check it out on Youtube.
.. .
Welcome back. Now that you have watched a bunch of Youtube videos and are thoroughly excited about West Coast Swing, let me tell you about «Just Knock.»
Every 4^th Monday night of the month, Melissa Rutz — one of the top West Coast Swing professionals in the world (no joke) — hosts a lesson and dance at The Dance Loft in San Francisco. The beginner lesson is from 7 – 7:45pm; the intermediate lesson is from 7:45 — 8:30pm. After that, it’s open social dancing until 11:30. From time to time, other top professionals also stop by to dance.
You can’t beat the cost: $ 20 Two Classes & Dance; $ 15 One Class & Dance;
$ 10 Dance Only.
The Loft is a relatively small and intimate space. Melissa and all the dancers are VERY nice, and everyone dances with everyone. Coming here to dance feels like being in on something really cool. When you show up, the door downstairs might be closed. But, you guessed it, just knock.