Out, About: Where to get your groove on

This is an excerpt from the NashVillager newsletter, your human-powered daily guide to Nashville. Click here to subscribe.

I have done a lot of dancing this week — between both Chappell Roan and Charli XCX’s local shows. (The week before, I was averaging 20,000 steps a day in NYC, so my Fitbit doesn’t know what to do with me right now.)

But it has once again reminded me that there are not nearly enough places to go out dancing in this city. Most of my nights out in my 20s here have been spent standing in a group of friends vaguely near the bar of an establishment. We’ve gone through darts and pool phases, but nothing hits the same as twirling on the dance floor with your chosen family members.

So if you haven’t worn through the soles of your $7 TikTok sneakers this week (as I have), here are some of my favorite places to get your groove on.

Play

Yes, Play (and attached Tribe) is a “gay bar,” but as a queer woman, I have found it to be just as much a safe space as Lipstick Lounge — with the benefit of a dance floor and banging playlist (no shade to the Lipstick’s nightly karaoke). Plus, there are the drag performances throughout the night that keep a healthy pace between dancing and breaking to watch the show. This is a spot for fans of pop remixes, well drinks, queer folk and our allies.

Night We Met

I’ve mentioned Night We Met in the NashVillager before, as a hat tip to Caroline Eggers’ thoughtful reporting about its sustainability goals. This newer EDM option may use reusable cups, but its strobe lights and oontz-ing bass are all too familiar to any previous clubgoer. This is an option for your friend who is in the thick of a seasonal depression caused by a lack of electronic music festivals in the fall.

Also, tonight, It’s Giving Global is DJing. We’ve talked about them before too — in a What Where When-sday interview with the founders.

Plaza Mariachi

The plaza hosts so many events; it can be hard to remember it’s also a dance venue. But don’t worry — this one is a recurring possibility.

Every Thursday is salsa night — with free cumbia and salsa lessons at 7 p.m. Then, social dancing begins at 8 and continues until midnight (yes, on a school night!).

Pro tip: For those more in their señora era, lotería (our version of — very intense — bingo) happens every Tuesday.

Pop-ups

One of the most frequent ways I get my fix is actually through one-time events. QDP, or Queer Dance Party, happens at least once each month — usually at Basement East for $1, but it’s known to takeover Brooklyn Bowl for special events like Pride. And tomorrow night, it’s at Rosemary & Beauty Queen for $10.

Basement East hosts other themed dance nights, like Taylor Swift or Bad Bunny dance parties. And then there are the national tours, like all-girl reggaeton party Sorry Papi, that come through town and take over spots like Bucanas in South or Skydeck downtown.

Really, this list is as much a reminder to myself as it is to you that there are places to dance in Nashville, even if this city makes us work a bit harder to find them.