Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — The fourth in a popular series of community dances will be held at a new location Saturday night.

The Masonic Hall, at 111 Eighth St. above Alpine Electronics on Lincoln Avenue, is the venue for the dance, which will feature DJ Kip Strean spinning all kinds of music for dancegoers young and old, from 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday. The cost is $10.

The community dances began in January, with the inspiration of local ballroom dance instructors Charles Horton and Polly Cogswell. That event and dances in March and April drew increasingly large crowds.

"You get cowboys who show up in hats and wranglers wanting to line dance, 70-year-olds who do foxtrots and waltzes, Latin dancers who want to shake their hips, and kids who jump out and do hip-hop," said Steamboat resident Lynne Garell, an organizer of Saturday's event. "Everyone has smiles on their faces and just has fun - there's not only Kip playing a variety of kinds of music, but there's also this huge age range, and a real sense of community."

Previous community dances have raised donations for the Molly Look Foundation and Steamboat Springs Middle School students who hope to travel to Africa next year. On Saturday, tips for students collecting tickets and hanging coats will continue to fund that trip.

Garell said while the Masonic Hall overlooks Lincoln Avenue, the entrance is a non-descript door on Eighth Street that will be decorated and easy to find. Previous dances have been held at the Depot Art Center. Garell said that although she is excited about the new location, the "one negative" is a lack of access for those with disabilities for the upstairs event.

Garell said such kinks could be addressed at future dances, which are still uncertain in terms of date and location.

"We're trying to get them to happen monthly or every other month," Garell said. "It's a fledgling thing."

- Mike Lawrence