Go out on a given weekend in Charlottesville and you'll find a myriad of nightlife.
Bars crowd the Corner, outside and inside dining options pepper the Downtown Mall and fraternity parties line Rugby Road. But in C'ville's burgeoning weekend scene, one crucial ingredient is still under-represented: dance clubs.
Sure, you can dance at fraternities, but it's usually an iPod or mix-tape driving the dance floor, hardly a dance club by any stretch of the imagination. For University students -- especially those under 21 -- dance options off Rugby are few and far between. But while Charlottesville's club scene isn't prominent, it is there.
A small scene, however, makes for little dance floor diversity. As local DJ and Chemistry graduate student Chris Mocella put it, "Charlottesville is a fickle town. [People] want to hear what they know. It's hard to promote a club/house night."
The majority of C'ville's dance nights are centered around hip-hop and '80s hits. This mainstream focus leaves conventional clubs -- which usually feature house, trance and various related genres -- in the minority.
The few dance nights and clubs that populate C'ville are themselves varied.
Club 216 is a members-only venue on Water St., offering a gay-friendly atmosphere and a resident DJ.
rEv, once held at the Plan 9 Satellite Ballroom and currently without a consistent location, provides a wide array of electronic dance and international music spun by a consistent group of DJs.
Release brings an eclectic mix of club music, depending who spins on any given night. The monthly dance night is held at R2, the club in the back of Rapture, a bar on the Downtown Mall.
Among these three, Release has been this year's only consistent, sizeable dance night for less-mainstream electronic dance music. Produced three times per semester, Release seeks to "bring an environment where cultures collide and people get closer," according to the purpose statement on its Web site.
During Release, R2 is divided into an upstairs V.I.P. lounge and downstairs dancehall filled with people of all ages and cultural backgrounds. Colorful lights pulse, surrounding the neon-green-glowsticks-dotted crowd. Some folks dress in the chic fashion of more metropolitan dance clubs, while others dress anywhere from eccentric to prep.
Release was started in 2004 by fourth-years College students Gavin Holland and Matus Knoblich, the former a DJ and the latter a promoter familiar with the Manhattan and Miami club scenes. The pair wanted to have a consistent night for local talent to spin club music, something lacking when they began.
"Club music is what the goal of Release was and is," Knoblich said. Before "it was non-existent."
So far, the night has featured local DJs like Mocella and non-locals, such as D.C.'s DJ Veracity, alongside Release's mainstay, Holland.
At Club 216, on the other hand, there's a single, resident DJ, Frank Rivera, on the tables every Friday and Saturday night. And though the club has different themes, including an '80s night, everything is run by Rivera.
From the dance perspective, a resident DJ can build rapport with the membership. But Mocella, who has guest spun at Club 216 on several occasions, said he sees things differently.
"It's the same DJ every time," he said. "It would get old."
Clyde Cooper, manager of Club 216, maintained that it's necessary to retain "one of the best [DJs] in town who is good at playing to the crowd."
Cooper based his opinion on client feedback.
"I haven't heard anything negative from our members" about Rivera's exclusive residency, he said.
Much of the appeal of 216 stems from its private, members-only status, which allows the Water St. club to remain open and serve alcohol until 5 a.m.
According to Club 216's official Web site, annual memberships run $50 and cover is $5. Members can only bring four guests per month at $12 apiece, and each guest can only come once a month.
Cooper asserted these stringent rules are due to the federal and state laws governing private clubs.
Some students, however, said getting in isn't too difficult.
"It's easy to get in -- you just have to go with someone you know," said second-year Architecture student Jeff Yates, a non-member who attends 216 occasionally. But "the dancing is mediocre. Until 2 it's house/techno, but around 2, when the straight bars [around town] close, a ton of people go there. Then it turns more R&B."
While 216 is the sole members-only club in town, all clubs face the issue of age restriction. rEv in particular has encountered difficulties with age limits. According to the club Web site, "The decision [to cancel the scheduled nights] was made after the management of the Satellite Ballroom required the minimum age to be raised to 21." rEv is still looking for a regular venue.
"The biggest problem we've had is reconciling the idea of everyone coming and having fun with the drinking age," rEv manager and University student Robert Avagyan said.
The group also recently lost resident DJ Alp
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