The Breakaway - Swing Dancing in Oakland

You guys ... it's time to get back into the swing of things! Sorry for the cheesiness, but I had to make a bad pun to draw attention to how fantastic The Breakaway is. The lindy and swing scene in the Bay Area is JUMPIN', and The Breakaway contributes to the success of the scene here tremendously.The teachers and organizers are warm and inviting in a scene that can often be cliquey. The classes are fun and informative. The dances are really a sight to behold. I come home after one of these dances happier and healthier. I initially started swing dancing as a way to combat mild depression, and I attribute a lot of my success in that arena to The Breakaway. I got to dance again, a dance with music that can't help to lift your mood AND get you moving. Seriously, swing dancing is a workout! I especially love how welcoming The Breakaway is toward people of all backgrounds. Often in the modern swing scene, you see the same type of people again and again which can lead to insularity whether intentional or not. The Breakaway has a diverse set of people unified under the banner of swing! It's beautiful.

Oakland has a new home for swing dancers and Lindy hoppers! I can't tell you how happy I was when I hear the Breakaway was opening in the East Bay. Situated at the Starline Social Club, it boasts of amazing hardwood dance floors, top-notch dance teachers, a very inclusive and friendly community and a bar-downstairs! Every month, a live band is featured and makes the dance experience all the more fun. The crowd is a beautiful diverse mix, from students to professionals and retirees, beginners to advanced amateurs -- all coming together in the name of dance. Everyone is welcome. Breakaway!

A wonderful venue for learning and practicing swing dancing. I just finished a four-week beginning course and the improvements were highly noticeable--even from other people. If you're looking to begin learning swing, it's the place to be. Notably, you won't be given a tremendous amount during the beginning class--and that's for the best. Each week didn't add a lot of new material, but reinforced and polished the basic moves. For me, having all that dedicated time to really perfect (or at least improve) the footwork was crucial. For me, I always had a hard time getting my feet to keep the count once I switched my mind to other tasks. Now, they think for themselves. For the social dances, they're quite fun. The attendees are all friendly (okay, at least that's been my experience) and they want to dance. Live bands play there once a month, making it all the more merrier. If you already got it down, then the social dances should be fine. If you're looking how to swing, or how to get better, do check out the monthly classes. They're well worth the price.

I've always enjoyed dancing but never had an outlet to explore the realm of formal dance, until east coast swing dancing aka lindy hop came into my life. For me,lindy hop has reduced my everyday stress, strengthened the connection I have with my partner, and has been a great way to meet new people in a positive environment. This would never be possible without the instructors and staff at The Breakaway. The fun, positive environment which is inherent to lindy hop is made better by the inexplicable charm that the The Breakaway exudes. If you ever were curious what swing dancing was all about or wanted to learn a formal dance style or just need a new social circle, come to only real swing dance club in Oakland on Tuesday nights.

Nice teachers, very attentive to new comers. Three large beautiful ballrooms, they don't make them this great anymore. All around lots of good energy and fun dancing.

Great instructors warm and inviting. Even for beginners they made us feel welcomed. Highly recommended.

Great place to dance! Beautiful huge hardwood floor. There is a stage with "Boogie" Band once a month. I went last week for first time and I am going again tonight. Fun!

Post-pandemic update:The Breakaway is a weekly (Thursdays) swing dance venue in Oakland that goes on at the Lake Merritt Dance Center. This is a major event for the East Bay, with 100+ dancers in attendance. Masks are required. The entrance fee is $10 on DJ nights (credit card only), $20 on live band nights (typically last Thursday of the month).The location: From the point of view of a swing dancer, this venue is about as good as it gets: huge main ballroom floor of near-perfect quality, swing times-appropriate Art Deco interiors.Some logistics: parking is not a problem: there are a couple of connected parking lots on both sides of the building. Note that the signs will read "Veterans Memorial Building", "Senior Center", "Lake Merritt Dance Center" - this is all the same building and the same entrance. Getting into the parking lot is a bit tricky: the building with an adjacent park occupies an entire block, in order to enter you need to be circling this block clockwise. If you get into a counterclockwise motion, perform a U-turn on the Bay Place, a street between the center and the lake (one of the openings into the parking lot is labeled "Exit only", but is actually OK to use that late in the day). The neighborhood is safe and clean by the Oakland standards, so parking on the Bay Place across from the building is quite OK if the parking lot is full - or you cannot find that U-turn. The building entrance is on the Bay Place side, the dance is going on upstairs.Water is not allowed on the dance floor, so leave your bottle on the special tables outside. There is a water fountain in the hall next to the main floor entrance.The free dance lesson for beginners starts at 7:30PM (with two sets of progressive lessons at 7PM), dance party starts at 8PM and goes until 10PM (10:30PM on live music nights).The crowd: On a DJ night, over 100 dancers, with noticeably (but not disastrously) more follows than leads; the ratio evens out toward the end. The level of skills of the follows is similar to Wednesday Night Hop in Palo Alto: there are a lot of intermediate dancers, few truly advanced, the beginners mostly have pretty good basic skills; there are very few true beginners (fewer than in Palo Alto) - real delight for an intermediate lead.

The Level 1 teachers seem to be pleasant and earnest people, but it's been so long since any of them had to learn this stuff, they have no idea how to pace the class - or anything about pedagogy.Every week they rush ahead to meet their "learning objectives" for the class while we all flounder.I tried for months, but in the end - it's just too d*** frustrating. Level 1 feels like medicine rather than fun, and I don't need this medicine. Anecdotally, my two other friends in the class also quit - independently of me. I'm sure some people keep returning. (Makes more sense if you're a couple who can practice together during the week.) I wonder whether anyone ever graduates to the next level.Now excuse me while I go wash someone's paint-thinner perfume off my hands.

Been going to this place since they started a few years ago. Friendly staff, great teachers and a terrific community overall. Have met some of the nicest people in the world who I'm glad to have gotten to know. The ballroom was built in the 20s and gives the perfect feel for the original vernacular jazz dancing.