Real Texas Dance Halls

I bet there is a dance hall somewhere in your past.

It probably depends on what region of the Great State you were raised in as to where you went to your first ‘Real Texas Dance.’   Since I was raised out here in Real Texas, and the pickins’ were few and far between, I’m sure the first dances I went to were in somebody’s barn or at the Jr. High School.  We also had dances and hamburgers after the football games at the Methodist Church MYF Hall.  Guess I’ll go to hell with all the Methodists for that.

Us Presbyterians just never had a problem with dancing……or hardly anything else.  We were just about as big a sinners as the catholics.

Now some of you know there is a difference between a dance hall and just a plain old beer joint where some dancin’ might have taken place.  I’ve seen a few of those too.  The Starlite Lounge was one of those such beer joints/dance halls and another was called the TeePee Tavern.  It burned down years ago.  Nearly every small town out in the oil patch had those types of beer joints/dance halls.   They always had a sign out front….beer…..dancing.  I wouldn’t set foot in most of those places now, but back in the day when I was just over 10′ tall and  bulletproof, I didn’t give it a second thought.

But that was back in the day……I’ve shrunk a little since then.  And somewhere along the way I found out I really wasn’t  bulletproof.

I have to say the first dance I remember going to was at Flo Darling’s dance studio. It’s where we all learned to dance as youngsters and also where our older brothers and sisters learned to dance.  We were hot, dusty smelling young kids and our mothers sent us there to learn the fox trot, waltz, and all the ballroom standards. Flo Darling was talented beyond belief in dance and how she ended up teaching the heathens of West Texas has to be a story in itself. My respect for her is enormous and her dedication to dance must be immense.  She was the real deal and I’m sure she was classically trained in her younger days

The first ‘real,’  formal type, adult dance I remember is the annual Barnhart Christmas Dance held in the Barnhart school gym. No, it’s not there any more, but I remember dancing the legs off of Ethel Herrmann, the business secretary to the ranch manager of the Rocker b Ranch and wife of Dobb Herrmann. What a nice lady she was to dance with us poor ruffians who only knew two steps forward and one step sideways. That’s really not much more than I know today.

My dancing claim to fame was dancin’ the night away at Billy Bob’s until they turned out the lights and the party was over.  I actually was on the dance floor most of the time until they started shutting the doors of what is billed as The World’s Largest Honky Tonk.  It must have been around 2:00 a.m.  I was almost invisible by the time Billy Bob’s closing time came around.  That year I was president of a very large press association and was staying in the Van Clyburn room in the Americana hotel in Downtown Fort Worth. The suite had a baby grand piano in it.   I didn’t act all that presidential the next day, but I do remember having quite a night.

These memories have come forward because of a Christmas present I received in the form of a book called “Dance Halls & Last Calls.” I just got around to reading it.  It’s a history of Texas Country Music and the dance halls that music was played in.

You can find your favorite dance hall somewhere in that book.

However, you can’t find some of my favorites which include: TeePee Tavern just outside of McCamey; Boots & Saddles in San Angelo, the Dixie Club, and some others I was allegedly in in, but don’t exactly remember when or where.

Some others I remember are:  London Dance Hall – London, The Broken Spoke – Austin, Gruene Hall – Gruene, Cotton Club – Lubbock, Crider’s Rodeo and Outdoor Dance Pavilion - Hunt, Devil’s Backbone Tavern, Skyline Club – Austin, and a few others.  I was in another dance hall in East Austin and was havin’ a heck of a time.  I eventually noticed I was the only white person in the building.  I just kept on having a good time.  Nobody really cared that I was a minority.

It was at Criders near Hunt that I repeatedly asked a newly elected Texas Congressman how to pronounce his name.  Is it Tom Leffler or do you say Tom Loffler?  He finally said….yes.  I thanked him for clarifying it all for me.

I have seen some amazing dancing at some of these dance halls and honky tonks.  I just wasn’t one of them.  The best dancers I ever saw were at the Broken Spoke when the Derailers were playing.  Young Joe David did a pretty good job on the dance floor too.  A good dancer I’m not, but after a while…..seems I get better and better.

I’m David our in Real Texas

Don’t cringe if you see me comin’

Tagged as: david werst, Real Texas Blog, Texas, Texas dance halls, texas entertainment, Texas Lifestyle