Venice Beach Skate Dance Plaza Re-Opening Ceremony

The Skate Dance Association hosted a ribbon cutting for the newly resurfaced Venice Beach Skate Dance Plaza on July 14th, 2019. And Venice Paparazzi was on the scene. View pics below!

Here is a message from Bob Davis, Superintendent of Recreation and Parks Venice Beach:

“We at Recreation and Parks are thankful to Dr. Pamela Pine and The Venice Beach Skate Dance Association that raised the funds for the replacement of the concrete Skate Dance Plaza deck here on Venice Beach.

It is always encouraging to collaborate on projects with groups who are wiling to fund raise especially when budget funds are limited.

About the Venice Beach Skate Dance Plaza:

The Venice Beach Skate Dance Plaza is home to the most globally recognized skate dance community in the world. The iconic outdoor rollerskating phenomenon known as “roller dancing” was born in in the mid 70’s with the advent of the polyurethane skate wheel and found its’ most famous home steps away from the Venice Beach Boardwalk, amidst the gritty urban beach landscape that serves as a popular Los Angeles recreational playground.

Every weekend people of all ages, races, religions, and socio-economic backgrounds have gathered in Venice Beach to admire and share in the free skate lessons and solo and group skate performances that have been immortalized in movies, television and music videos. Aside from its influence on popular culture, the Venice Beach Skate Dance Community has preserved its rich artistic expression in a safe, free, public recreational activity that has served the public and participant alike.

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Here is the July 14th Re-Opening event recap from Venice Beach Skate Dance Association.

Skaters and onlookers were gathered at the gates that surrounded the newly paved Skate Dance Plaza on Venice Beach. It was 1:30 pm and 2 people could be seen feverishly working on the 6’ x 6’ Logo that was in the middle of the skate area. Finally, at a little before 2:00pm they were finished and some photographers entered the area along with a small group of skaters that had been part of the group for at least 20 plus years.

There was a special moment when Mad , aka James Lightning, and Pam surrounded the circle alone. Mad has been deemed the founder of the Venice Beach Skaters that began skating on Venice Beach in 1978. Mad, along with Larry, and a few others were the ones that created the Venice Beach “Line-Up,” which is a series of routines with names like ABC, Long Freddie, and Chili Willie, that the skaters have been preforming since the 80’s.

Jeffrey Young, Terrell Ferguson, Mad, Kyle Johnson, Larry Pitts, Dee Upshaw, and James Adkins

Venice Beach Skate Dance Association’s Vice President Pamela Pine

Mad built Pam’s first sound system in 1993 and she has been bringing music for the skaters most weekends since that time. Finally, Pam went to the sound system turned on the mic and cued up the music. After imparting some information and a couple of jokes the gates were opened, the music began and the skaters leapt onto the new skate area. The Song “We are Family” by Sister Sledge played and the frenzy began. The sound of wheels on pavement could be heard in sync with the rhythm of the song. The skaters were holding hands, laughing and smiling as they skated around the new cement, their excitement and happiness permeating the entire area.

As the afternoon progressed more skaters joined in, some locals, some known, and some new. By 5 pm there were over 40 skaters enjoying the new space. By 8:00 pm the daylight was dimming and so were the skaters, so we stopped the music, packed up, locked the gates and resumed a different kind of celebration, awaiting our return next weekend.

We want to thank Bob Davis, Superintendent of Recreation and Parks Venice Beach who was instrumental in helping us get the job done! We would not have been able to accomplish this without his interest and help.

We also want to thank Victor Jauregui, Senior Director of Recreation and Parks Venice Beach who co-ordinates events and permits, and so much more.

View pics below by Venice Paparazzi

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Join in on the Venice Beach Fun!

There will be dedicated weekend of events scheduled for the weekend of August 9th – 11th. To celebrate the milestone of the approaching twenty-year anniversary of the Skate Dance Plaza, the first ever evening Venice Beach Roller Disco event will be hosted on Saturday, August 10th in the Skate Dance Plaza. Roller skaters from around the world, representing four decades of dedication to the art form, will be visiting to attend the weekend of events.