Rusty’s Rhythm Club

I love Rusty’s especially on first Fridays.
Rusty’s has a wide range of ages of people everyone from high school to senior citizen. It’s completely non-​threatening and friendly, even for beginners.
They have beginners classes starting at 8 PM to 830 for just 30 minutes before the live band starts. If you’re a little more intermediate they usually have a class with the guest instructor from 730 to 830 for just five extra dollars.
It’s held inside the Elks club and there’s plenty of parking on the street in front or in the back. The cover is usually $ 15-​$ 20. I’m not sure if they take credit card, so bring cash.
People dressed in period attire or regular attire. Feel free to bust out your swing dance duds.
The hardwood floor is fun to dance on and huge.
They have a full bar and often have vendors who are selling clothing, handbags, vintage where, bags for your dance shoes, or headpieces.
Usually dancing is on Wednesday nights starting at 7:30 but on the first Friday of the month they moved to Friday instead of Wednesday.
Likewise they do a Lindy groove on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
The swing dance scene is such a happy friendly experience!
Let’s keep it going!

I don’t like going dancing at clubs, and I just got used to the dirty looks, or a hand in the face, or any other form of rejection that guys get when they’re out clubbing and looking to dance with someone. And then I got into swing dancing and found the complete opposite to be true! Over the years I’ve been out swing dancing at lots of places in different cities, but Rusty’s takes the cake for the fun-​factor!
Great live bands every week? Check.
Friendly people at all skill levels who truly enjoy dancing and having fun? Check.
Full bar available so you can wet your whistle? Check.
Great DJ music in between sets? Check.
Weekly raffle and birthday circle dance? Check.
Beginner and Intermediate classes before the band starts? Check.
Ice-​cream and hot dogs to eat? Check. (sometimes)
If you don’t come in with a smile, I guarantee you’ll leave with a big one from ear to ear! Hope to see you there!

The most exhilarating night of my life. I went to see Lil’ Mo and the Dynaflos, even though I was warned it was a swing dancing venue. I couldn’t get anyone to go with me, so I put on my keds and headed out alone. Admission for live band nights is $ 15 dollars, and that includes the beginner class, which is super simple and fun. You are encouraged to dance with as many people as possible. Everyone is incredibly sweet, the band was amazing!!! I stayed until the very last dance and went home with the biggest smile on my face. Rusty is a sweetheart and everyone is really encouraging, no matter your skill level. Can’t wait to brag to all my friends that I went swing dancing!
¹⁰⁄₁₀ would swing again.

Why I love Rusty’s Rhythm Club:
–Live Bands/​great DJ music between sets;
–Welcoming Community of dancers at all levels;
–Beginning and Intermediate dance instructions available at the beginning of the evening;
–You don’t need a partner to join in the fun/​everyone dances with everyone;
–Comfortable/​ample space on the dance floor;
–A bar to quench your thirst;
–Adjacent/​plentiful parking;
This club has been swing dancing for 16 years, and it’s still going strong. Join us if you want to have a fantastic fun evening of dance!

This is a wonderful venue. East Coast Swing/​Lindy Hop, Live band, ample space, friendly people, wholesome environment. People come here for the love of dance and the great LIVE music. I feel safe as a woman just going by myself (FYI: the parking @back of the club is well lit and safe). I call it my Swing Gym and boy is it highly aerobic! I do not get hit on at this club and for me who just comes to dance I really appreciate that. I go, I get great exercise and have an absolute blast enjoying the dance, the music and keep improving my dance skills! There’s always nice people asking you to dance, switching dance partners is encouraged (even if you come with a partner) and that’s an excellent way to learn new moves. If you get there when it opens, a class is included in the admission price of $ 15. There is a beginner and an intermediate class that you can choose from. Dances are on the First Friday of every month and every Wednesday excluding that first Friday week. You can also sign up outside of the club for swing dance/​Lindy hop lessons~ (which I did and loved)~!

Good music, good people, and lots of fun! Rusty’s is the place to be on both Wednesday and Friday night dances. Everyone is very friendly and the music is great! They have a bar that sells all kinds of drinks and popcorn. On Fridays you will find awesome vendors and a vintage ice cream man!

There are lots of places to dance all over Los Angeles, but coming to Rusty’s Rhythm club is different. It’s like coming home.
At Rusty’s I always see so many welcoming faces (familiar or new), seldom sit out a dance, and I get to be right up next to the bands, which are always talented and quite varied. Rusty collaborates with the acts she books to make sure the songs they play are danceable, so even brand new dancers won’t find the going too difficult. The floor is smooth and not overly crowded, and there’s a mix of seasoned and new dancers. There’s also plenty of room to sit and chat and have a drink at the bar. The crowd is so friendly, I always know I will have an fun and memorable night, even if none of my friends happen to be going. I would recommend it to anyone!

This review is for Rusty Frank, the dance instructor. I scheduled a private dance class for a bachelorette party. Rusty came gorgeously dressed in 1920’s style to inspire us. She taught us all the Charleston and variations on the basic steps, as well as some group dances and ways to use what we learned out at the clubs later that night. She gave us information and tips about the flapper style and 1920’s history. Rusty got all of us sweating and moving our butts, while having fun!
Rusty was very accommodating and flexible with a few last minute changes to our plans. I appreciated her enthusiasm and energy to kick off our Roaring 20’s Bachelorette weekend! Thank you, Rusty!

This place kept me from quitting dancing! Everyone was so friendly and inviting and as a newbie it was just a great environment… I’ve met some of my closest friends here and you cannot beat LIVE swing band music and they have great DJs during the band breaks as well for continuous dancing. Add to that a raffle, birthday dances and other special performances and you have a winning evening! They now have a beginners AND an intermediate class before each dance for FREE! Bring a friend or go solo you will have a great time either way.

I mainly attend the monthly Friday night dances. Although I have to drive from Orange County to here, all of the fun here is worth the dance commute. (Yes, I said «dance commute»! I think I just made up a catchphrase!)
Rusty’s Rhythm Club is held at the Elks Lodge on Manchester Avenue (past LAX). The building is air-​conditioned and the floor is smooth. There’s also a bar where you can order alcoholic drinks, but I much rather prefer to have my water to quench my thirst in between sets and especially after vigorous dancing. Sometimes there is an Ice Cream man serving ice cream and floats. Raffles for door prizes are also held. :-)
Rusty Frank makes this place so welcoming to dancers of all skill level and she brings in superb visiting instructors and live bands. There are pre-​dance lessons for beginners and for experienced dancers. I especially love the intermediate lessons where professional dancers come to teach challenging techniques. I have discovered live bands that I am now a fan of and ended up buying their albums whenever they were selling at the dance.
Evening dances are also held on Wednesday nights with live bands.

Fun place, great date idea. My girlfriend and I had a great time learning some moves and admiring the experts. Small bar, GREAT live music, and a mixed crowd of young adults through seniors.

Great swing dancing venue with live bands (mostly, check the schedule on their website to make sure)! Very friendly crowd, great music, good dancing, easy parking!

I went to Rusty’s at first thinking that it was a swingers club. needless to say, I was sorely disappointed… but after getting over the fact that it was not a swingers club, I partook of the festivities and enjoyed myself. After 5 – 12 cocktails, I really felt good and the beginners class was perfect. Who would have thought that swinging was actually a kind of dance!
Everyone there was just incredibly friendly, Ms Rusty. is not Rusty to say the least, most limber person I have ever seen. I think she could probably lick her own elbow. As the night progressed I found that my Caucasian side was taking over and I was convulsing on the dance floor. I was rather embarrassed. Luckily I did not puke on the dance floor. I did that in the parking lot after I left.
This is the only swing club on the west side of Los Angeles and well worth it. Though trying to find Playa Del Rey was difficult enough, but well worth it. hell for $ 12 — $ 15 to see hot chicks dancing!!! What more could I ask for. it usually costs me $ 20 at the Body Shop to have a girl dance with me.
I would give it a 5, but I honestly cannot remember how to get there. Ms Rusty is hot…

I went to Rusty’s Rhythm Club for Rusty’s 13^th Anniversary of her swing dance classes. There were so many people! 306 people came through the door of The Elks Lodge that Friday night to hear Stompy Jones (!) play; watch The Hollywood Hot Shots, Dax & Sarah (great lindy hoppers) & Chester Whitmore perform; and to celebrate the great achievement of Rusty keeping swing dancing alive in Los Angeles! Even Rusty’s very first student showed up for the party~
Cover was $ 15 and it included beginner lessons at 8pm, but I wasn’t there for it so I can’t comment on how good it was (which I’m sure they are!) Because it was a big celebration, there was a potluck buffet of many foods & snacks that dancers & students brought in– the room for the food wasn’t opened until the middle of the night and there seemed to be plenty of snacks for everyone.
All ages are welcome at Rusty’s Rhythm Club, but there is a bar as well. The older gentleman bartender was very sweet, but I found the drinks are very weak. I guess this is fine if you order a beer or don’t want to get too drunk that you forget the dance steps, but I was only planning on having one for the night and it did nothing for me – even on an empty stomach. The drink prices are very reasonable though.
NO PARTNER IS NEEDED! Everyone was super friendly & fun, lots of different levels of ability. If you’re a girl, just stand with your tippy toes peeking out on the dance floor, smile & look like you want to dance! If you’re a guy, ask one of these smiling girls. I’m a beginner still, and told that to the guys that asked me to dance, and they never made me feel bad about it. One even asked me what was I learning so that I could practice! So sweet.
Since it’s generally a smaller venue (2300 sq ft dance floor) and it was a big occasion, I found it to be kind of crowded and HOT. It says they have a/​c but I was just not feeling it that night and I was afraid to go out on the dance floor a little because I’m still a beginner and I was afraid of being stepped on (which happened, not by my partner though) still. I had a wonderful time and I was told that on regular Wednesday nights it’s never as crowded.
If you’re interested in swing dance lessons on a more regular basis, check out my review for Lindy by the Sea (taught by Rusty. :)
Come out and support live music! Don’t say you can’t dance because there are lessons in the beginning. No more excuses… starting now!

I love Rusty’s Rhythm Club!
My first night here I had so much fun, I signed up for Swing Dance lessons the very next day!
Every Wednesday (and one Friday a month) Ms Rusty Frank transforms the Playa Del Rey Elk’s Lodge into a Swingin’ Dance Club.
For a mere $ 15 you can dance to some of the best live swing bands. Cover includes a complementary beginners lesson before the band starts. The bar is inexpensive. Ample free parking behind the club.
Full range of dancing levels from «I saw it in a movie once» to «dancing for 50 years.» There’s a very casual atmosphere. Everyone is so nice and approachable. Even strangers will ask each other to dance. All this adds to making you feel welcome. I think it’s the friendliest swing club in LA.
I’ve been going for a few months now and every night here has been STELLAR!

There are some things that have been lost over time, when it comes to the night scene. The first was good dancing and then live music. Rusty’s Rhythm Club has both.
The Club is held at the Elk Lodge, every Wednesday and last week there was a live swing orchestra playing the best from the Jazz and Swing age. There is only a $ 15 door cover and free parking. There is a bar, but since I was dancing, I wanted it to be a dry night.
If you get there early, there is a free swing dancing class which starts at 7:30. I have been swing dancing and taking lessons for over a year, but my friend has never been, so I took the class with her. Personally, I feel like the class went a little slow, but for some people I would imagine that it wasn’t slow enough. They taught the basic 6-​count Lindy and a swing-​out, which are good to know and anyone can start dancing with that.
I love seeing live music, watching some amazing swing dancing and meeting new people and if you are like me, then you won’t be disappointed.

Rusty’s Rhythm Club has a reputation for being the friendliest swing dance venue in town, and rightfully so!
The regular crowd there is eclectic, a wide variety of ages and dance experience levels. Because I lived nearby and took classes at Rusty’s Lindy by the Sea, this is where I eased into the social dance scene — everyone was welcoming and fun, and I often saw my classmates there (which was handy for practicing things I had just learned). It’s a terrific place for beginners; no one gives off the «I’m too good to dance with the newbie» vibe. The Rhythm Club is all about perpetuating the joyous tradition of dancing to live music and keeping the spirit of swing alive. You will feel like a welcome member of the dance community, even if you’re new.
Rusty does her best to keep the atmosphere inclusive and lively; people really get into the fun theme nights she puts together for holidays, philanthropic causes and other special occasions (and sometimes just for the heck of it). Because on most nights the music is provided by live bands instead of DJs, you may even find people who’ve come just to listen to the kind of music you can’t really experience anywhere else.
Wednesday evenings can be tough, but I usually find that even if I have to drive a bit to get there, it’s a fun midweek pick-​me-​up. Come out and dance, come out and listen, come out and meet a genuinely friendly group of people who will make you feel at home!

This place is really fun!
Some of my friends brought me here when they started taking classes from Lindy by the Sea. I was a bit nervous since I only knew basic steps the first time, but there was a beginner class the night I went to refresh me :)
I’ve been back since taking swing lessons and it’s a great place to practice! All levels of dancers come, you get used to dancing with new partners, there is always a live band and a DJ helps everyone keep dancing while the band takes their break :) The DJ usually has a box of give-​away CD’s of swing music too *score* There is also a bar operated by the Elks Club for drinks and nice if small seating area.
I wish it was open on the weekend also but oh well.

Cover: $ 12 (sometimes $ 15 — when the band is very popular)
Lessons are only held on the first Wednesday of every Month. They are extremely basic, but definitely enough to get you out on the floor. If you really want to learn to dance, you should start with Rusty’s Sunday dance series. (more info at
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The Rhythm club is really the only swing dancing venue on the West-​side.
The atmosphere is purely friendly. The swing dancing community is one of the most inviting group of people you will ever meet. Swing dancers are very eager to spread love and happiness to the rest of the world, in the form of dance
Rusty’s is one of the more expensive of the swing venues but that is because the music is almost always live, and usually the bands are fantastic.
Most of the dancers here are slightly less experienced than at the other swing events in Los Angeles, but that makes the whole experience much more comfortable if you don’t know swing very well. Intimidation factor here is very low, though you should probably know something about swing if you are a guy and you plan to lead the dance.

This is a great place for beginners wanting to learn how to swing dance as well as advanced dancers. The atmosphere is very friendly and non intimidating. Rusty Frank has done a great job with beginner lessons, and attracting some of the best swing bands world wide to attend. A great place to take a date or arrive with friends or by yourself. Open wednesday nights from 8PM to 11:30PM.