Venice Beach Roller Disco

Venice Paparazzi was on the scene, and hosted a fun disco themed photo booth at the first event Saturday Night Venice Beach Roller Disco on Aug. 10, 2019. View pics below!

Thank you to this year’s Venice Beach Roller Disco sponsors!

Here is a message from Venice Skate Dance Association

The Venice Beach Skate Dance Association, with the help of local Venice neighborhood business sponsors, hosted the first ever Venice Beach Roller Disco on Saturday, August 10th from 7:00 until park closure. The outdoor public skate area was transformed into a glossy discotheque complete with kaleidoscopic lights, a live DJ set by Lady P, a Venice Paparazzi sponsored photo booth, and a 20’ movie screen featuring a montage of nostalgic roller skating footage.

The evening was a celebration of the newly resurfaced Skate Dance Plaza, funded by the Venice Beach Skate Dance Association and coordinated with the assistance of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks’ Superintendent Bob Davis and Assistant Director Victor Jauregui — both of whom were instrumental in the City’s official designation and signage of the Plaza as an inline or roller skate only recreational space.

The road towards recognition for the iconic Venice Beach outdoor roller dance culture born in the mid 70’s has taken four decades to secure. A popular weekend recreational pastime of dancing on roller skates to amplified music from a mobile boombox evolved into an organized group of individual skaters who formed a non-profit to champion their skate culture survival through the Venice Beach revitalization project in 1999 that resulted in a relocation of their skate area amidst rapidly gentrified surroundings. Those who attended Saturday night represented a diverse union of roller dancers who traveled from thousands of miles away to pay tribute to their rich past and celebrate a continued commitment to the outdoor Venice skate dance culture.

Center: Venice Beach Skate Dance Association’s Vice President Pamela Pine and Dee Upshaw

The support of the Venice community was apparent in the masses of dancing onlookers. Locals and tourists were drawn into the Skate Dance Plaza at sundown with its dramatic lighting, upbeat music and exuberant roller dancers weaving in and out of one another with synchronized perfection. “We have never seen anything like this in our part of the world. We stood mesmerized for hours” confessed a group of young twenty-something women who had just arrived from Dublin, Ireland.

With the success of this first Venice Beach Roller Disco, the positive force that is the Venice Skate Dance community is renewed and committed to sharing its unique brand of recreation with the world. Event producer Wendy Walz summarized the group’s mission in offering this free public event: “We represent a family of skaters that stretches across four decades and around the globe and our hope is to inspire anyone watching us to put on a pair of skates and join in the fun.”

View photos and photo booth pics by Venice Paparazzi