For $15, anyone can walk into a 118-year-old schoolhouse on Colvin Run Road in Great Falls and dance until late evening. No partner required.
Colvin Run Dance Hall, at 10201 Colvin Run Rd. just off Route 7, hosts social dancing six nights a week, according to the Fairfax County Times. The building was constructed in 1908 as a one-room school. In 1931, a group of residents led by Joe Wheeler purchased the abandoned schoolhouse from the Fairfax County School Board for $2,600 at public auction and formed the Colvin Run Citizens Association to run it as a community center. A large dance floor was added in 1932, and social dancing has continued there ever since.
The hall's 1,850-square-foot oak floor, barrel-vaulted ceiling and warm lighting still draw first-timers who stop and stare, according to the organization's website.
"I still enjoy watching a first-time visitor walk in the door; look at the wood panel barrel vaulted hall and say, 'WOW'! The WOW factor is universal for everyone that walks in the door," board member Tom White wrote on the CRCA website. White, who first came to Colvin Run in 2006, hosts the monthly Blue Moon Milonga there.
Who runs it
Gail Crum and Ed Cottrell teach every Tuesday at 7 p.m., followed by open dancing from 8 to 10 p.m. Crum, who once felt she couldn't dance at all, signed up for a class in 1998 and met Cottrell at a dance class. He introduced her to West Coast Swing. They now run several evenings a month and regularly bring in guest instructors.
Cottrell, who grew up in Falls Church and retired from the U.S. Department of Justice in 2007 after 27 years, also serves on the CRCA board. The entire board is volunteer, and the association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. All donations go toward preserving the building.
The weekly schedule
The hall is dark only on Wednesdays. Here's what a typical week looks like:
- Tuesdays: Lesson at 7 p.m. with Ed and Gail, open dancing 8–10 p.m.
- Thursdays: Country Western dance with Tim Bowker
- 2nd and 4th Fridays: Line dancing with Lisa De
- Saturdays: 1st: Social Ballroom; 2nd and 4th: Hustle and West Coast Swing with Ed and Gail, 7–11 p.m.; 3rd: Social Ballroom with Michael Sims; 5th: Blue Moon Milonga with Tom and Susan White
- Sundays: 1st and 3rd: "Dance for Everyone," 4–7 p.m., with guest instructor and DJ Ed Cottrell; 2nd and 4th: West Coast Swing with Tim Bowker
Lessons use rotating partners, so solo dancers are welcome at every event.
Upcoming events
Specific dates rotate by week. The full calendar is at colvinrun.org, and updates are posted to the hall's Meetup group at meetup.com/colvinrun-org/. The original school bell still hangs in the tower and is rung every New Year's Eve.
