Manhattan Club The Dance Is Closing After Just Four Months

Lights are out at Manhattan music venue The Dance, which is closing after less than four months in business. 

Venue owners — including Billy Jones, who also runs longstanding Brooklyn venue Baby’s All Right — announced the news in an Instagram post Monday (Feb. 10), explaining that the no-frills venue that intended to “prov[e] Culture could live and thrive again in Manhattan” was “already facing many significant challenges, both logistical and financially,” when it opened at 428 Lafayette St. in October.

“In spite of those challenges, we set about in making The Dance something truly special,” the post continues. “Over its short lifespan, The Dance felt like an incredible moment of creativity and rejuvenated nightlife in a borough that desperately needed it. Unfortunately, the ownership group has respectively decided to pull the plug on this dream and go in another direction, thus ending The Dance as it is known today. We’re personally devastated about all of this because we, along with so many artists, promoters, agents, and staff, have put so much time, energy and heart into this labor of love.”

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The space included an entry bar, a main 350-capacity room for performances, and an attached upstairs with an additional bar. Over its short lifespan, The Dance played host to the likes of DIIV, Charli XCX, Wild Nothing, Beach Fossils and Twin Peaks. Memorably, at one of the venue’s first gigs, Chicago band Whitney began their set hours late, took the stage with bath towels around their necks due to the room’s boiling temperature, and continued to face technical difficulties during the show.

The venue will host its last performance from the band US Girls on Feb. 18. 

“We’re very sorry for the inconvenience it caused all the acts and parties that were scheduled and the fans who were excited to come to The Dance especially those that never got a chance,” the post adds. “We will do everything we can to make things right.”

 

 

 

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— We were invited into this project by a team that we felt, like us, were dedicated to proving Culture could live and thrive again in Manhattan. It was a long, hard, and complicated development process for everyone involved. When we finally opened to the public in October, we were already facing many significant challenges, both logistical and financially. ? In spite of those challenges, we set about in making The Dance something truly special. Over its short lifespan, The Dance felt like an incredible moment of creativity and rejuvenated nightlife in a borough that desperately needed it. Unfortunately, the ownership group has respectively decided to pull the plug on this dream and go in another direction, thus ending The Dance as it is known today. We’re personally devastated about all of this because we, along with so many artists, promoters, agents, and staff, have put so much time, energy and heart into this labor of love. ? We’re very sorry for the inconvenience it caused all the acts and parties that were scheduled and the fans who were excited to come to The Dance especially those that never got a chance. We will do everything we can to make things right. ? On February 18th, The Dance will have it’s last dance with US Girls. Beyond that who knows what will happen next? — And that, my friends, is indeed The Dance of Life.–‍??

A post shared by The Dance (@the_dance_nyc) on Feb 10, 2020 at 12:27pm PST