[Bird calls and traffic noise]
[Upbeat salsa music]
-What makes this space special
is actually something I can't even
I don't even know how to say it.
It is the soul of this space.
It's the people who come here.
It's the energy that is in the space
when you walk into it.
Our goal
is to have the most diverse group of people
coming together to learn dance.
I like to meld the gay and the straight worlds together.
I just want people to come together
over dance, which I think is just, dance
and music brings us together. ♪♪
When they come into the space, the first thing
everybody says is “Oh, wow.” We don't make spaces
that are this elaborate, that are this beautiful.
So it feels like you're kind of walking back in time.
It was built in 1908.
[electric buzz] It was an
Odd Fellows building until probably about 30 years ago.
The thing about this room that makes it unique
is all of the work that surrounds the balcony.
So they are all lions’ heads, they're all plaster,
they have light up light bulbs
in the lion's mouth.
We still have the original chandeliers.
So you see a lot of the original Odd Fellows
building architecture. ♪♪
Clearly, the best thing about it is the floor.
It's about a 45 by 45, 45 by 50
dance floor, plus extra room to be sitting around.
You can see where people have danced.
You can see where the teachers teach
in the middle of the room
where the people surround
the teachers
around the outside of the room, where people's
favorite place to dance is in front of the stage.
Just year after year, what has happened to the floor.
So for me, it's history. ♪♪
This type of space
is important because it's an art space,
and I think
the more that you lose art, you lose your soul.
But in terms of spaces that are for a community,
that it's the people who have walked
through this space over the years that call it
home, it's been meaningful to people over 28 years
and it brings people together.
And this is a beautiful place to come together.
-For the full schedule of Century
Ballroom's final events, go to the
centuryballroom.com.
♪♪
Catch Art Zone Friday nights at eight
and any time online at seattlechannel.org/artzone.