This downtown L.A. restaurant, dressed to the nines in dark wood and Lalique glass, transforms every Sunday night into the Cicada Club. The entertainment changes---Janet Klein and her Parlor Boys, Dean Mora and his Orchestra, and Richard Halpern's Hollywood Cavalcade are regular acts. The impossibly implacable impresario Mr. DeMille emcees every time. Vintage attire is suggested, as are dinner reservations if you'd care to have a table at which to lounge in between dances. (There's a three-course prix fixe dinner offered.) Fun fact: This swank supper club is where Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt tangoed in "Mr. & Mrs. Smith."
Cicada
617 S. Olive St.
Los Angeles, CA 90014
213-488-9488
clubcicada.com
Every Thursday starting at 7:30 p.m., the grand ballroom of the Pasadena Masonic Temple jumps, jives and wails to the sounds of Lindy Groove. For the $7 cover charge, you get a complimentary beginning or intermediate dance lesson, and the chance to lindy hop till midnight on a 5,400-square-foot dance floor. Let them know in advance if it's your birthday, and you and nine friends get in, get a special table, and a cake all for free. Also, Bill Nye, the Science Guy, turns out to be Bill Nye, the Lindy Guy, too. He's often seen dancing here.
Lindy Groove
Pasadena Masonic Temple
200 S. Euclid Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91101
lindygroove.com
From the Side Street Strutters in New Orleans Square, to the Jedi Training Academy in Tomorrowland, Disneyland is famous for its live entertainment. Come Saturday nights and the lineup also includes live big bands at Carnation Plaza. Dancers of all ages whirl across the terrazzo dance floor to the sounds of Stompy Jones, Dave Eastly's Swingtown, Doc Anello and the Swing Machine, and Tim Gill's All Stars. If you don't feel like hanging out in the park in your swing togs, stash them in a locker on Main Street, U.S.A., and change before the music starts.
Disneyland Resort
1313 South Harbor Blvd.
Anaheim, CA 92802
714-520-5060
disneyland.com
For more than a decade, Jim Cruzen and Margie Adams have been teaching San Diego how to swing. Friday night, it's your turn. Learn to dance the jitterbug and East Coast Swing to big band and jump blues from 8 to 9 p.m. Then, strut your new moves on the air-conditioned dance floor from 9 p.m. to midnight. The $8 cover includes the lesson.
2toGroove Swing Dance Club
7528 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
San Diego, CA 92111
2togroove.com