We were just about to categorize the Dance Downtown free dance series at the Music Center as a perfect ‘Date Night’ opportunity for you moms and dads out there, but then we remembered that last year, we took our own L.A. kid to Dance Downtown Disco night and she (along with the other kids in attendance) had a blast dancing at the special past-her-bedtime evening party as well! So consider this an endorsement for the event as both an opportunity for grown ups to get away for some music, dancing and fun, while offering those of us who aren’t so lucky with a babysitter to be able to partake in the festivities.

The Dance Downtown series will continue every other Friday night at the Music Center courtyard in downtown L.A. until September 10, 2010.  Each evening starts with dance lessons on the outdoor dance floor, followed by free dancing and music and lessons throughout the night. If you’re more of a spectator, that’s okay too! Bring a picnic and plant yourselves on the abundant seating areas perfect for chilling on a warm summer night. Be warned though, the waters from the fountains are guaranteed to beckon your little ones for an enjoyment all their own.

Friday’s opening night will teach you Line Dancing and Two Step with a special 7:30 p.m. start time (later than the usual 6:30 p.m.). On Friday, July 2, Dance Downtown will be back with Bollywood and Bhangra, the infectious dance style that’ll get you and your entire family off your feet!  Check the website regularly for updated information on the Dance Downtown Series throughout the summer.

Dance Downtown Series

Music Center Plaza
135 North Grand Ave., Los Angeles, 90012; (213) 972-3660
Select Friday nights June 18-September 10, 2010
June 18 Line Dancing & Two Step (Special time 7:30pm to 10pm)
July 2 Bollywood/Bhangra
July 16 Argentine Tango
July 30 Zydeco
August 13 Disco Night
August 27 Throwback Night – 60’s Dances
September 10 Samba
6:30 p.m. – 10 p.m. (unless otherwise noted)
Ages: All (Parents must accompany kids)
Cost: FREE
Website
Complimentary beginner dance lessons at 6:30pm and throughout the evening.

After running around with your kids all day, how about a foot-pampering date night side by side with your sweetheart? Make a stop at Sunset Foot Spa before or after dinner, or make a visit to the spa the date unto itself. We won’t tell anyone. A Hollywood location offers a one hour foot massage for $25 while the Beverly Hills location is $5 more at $30 for one hour. That’s less than dinner and a movie. If you or your partner prefers a female foot masseuse, note that the Hollywood location only has male masseurs, so be sure to book your date night at the Beverly Hills locale. The chairs are side by side so while you may not want to speak to each other (a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of a day with the kids) rest in the knowledge that you are technically, on this date, still together.

Sunset Foot Spa

Foot Massage Reflexology
Start off with a Chinese herbal foot soaking to detoxify your system, immediately followed by a reinvigorating foot massage reflexology session.

Beverly Hills Location
8324 wishire blvd. san Vicente; 310-866-1048
$30 for 1 hour foot massage
Open Daily 10 a.m.-10:30p.m.

Sunset Foot Location
5419 W Sunset Blvd #3, Los Angeles, CA 90027; (323) 898-4220
Open Daily 10 a.m.-11 p.m.
$25 for 1 hour foot massage
Website

If you secretly long for your clubbing days (pre-children), try getting pre-historic with your date night endeavors at the Natural History Museum’s First Fridays series. Dance with the North American Mammals or sip drinks with the main lobby dinosaur skeletons. With a venue like the Natural History Museum, the right combination of live music, dim, mood-lit ambience, drinks, performances and academic discussions makes this the perfect place to revisit your youth while keeping the adults that you’ve become firmly intact.

The Natural History Museum First Friday events begin at 5:30 p.m. every (you guessed it!) first Friday of the month with the museum staying open for the occasions until an absolutely reasonable 10 p.m. Make the date with your significant other for Opening Night this Friday, March 5, 2010. The theme and talk will be about the Science of Southern California with NHM Curator Dr. Brian Brown leading an entomology tour called “Flies: They’re Everything You Think They’re Not.” Then, Caltech’s Dr. David Anderson talks about his work in mapping neural circuits that underlie innate behaviors in fruit flies. Why Anderson’s fly fascination? Because the fly’s behavioral responses, and associated internal states (such as arousal), form the evolutionary underpinnings of emotional behavior in higher organisms.

The First Friday series will run until June.

First Fridays at the Natural History Museum

900 Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles, 90007; (213) 763-DINO
Friday, January 8, 2010
5:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Ages: Adults
Cost: Concert + Museum Admission ($15.00);Museum Admission Only (no access to concert hall) ($2.00-$9.00); FREE for NHM members. (Purchase tickets in advance HERE)
Website

SCHEDULE:

Performances (8:30 pm – 10:30 pm)
Deer Tick and Everest (Diorama Hall)

Labeled as one of Rolling Stone’s Top 5 Bands from SXSW in 2009, Deer Tick, will be kicking off their US tour this month at First Fridays. Don’t miss their country-rock must-see show. Los Angeles based Everest, who have opened for the likes of Neil Young and Wilco, have been hailed as the new face of American rock-and-roll.

DJs (5:30 pm – 10:30 pm)
Resident DJ, Them Jeans (a.k.a. Jason Stewart) and headliner, DJ Shortee

Hailed as #1 female scratch DJ in the world and a pioneer of the turntablist movement, Shortee crosses genres spinning an eclectic mix from hip hop to electro to drum and bass.

With musical tastes spanning from hardcore punk to dancefloor-friendly hip-hop, post-rock to ambient electronic, Them Jeans never fails to deliver a set with the perfect mood for the gathering.

OK, so you’ve been together for a long time now, through thick and thin, good and bad, without any children and now a gaggle of them. And between the birthdays and the anniversaries and holidays like Valentine’s Day, your creativity well is a little dry. Try something new this Valentine’s Day that will help you get to know each other all over again, in a different and playful way. The Valentine’s Aerial PlayShop at the Power Plant in Manhattan Beach is for couples only, and will take both of you through a couple’s warm up on the ground before you soar and dance together through the air on aerial apparatus. Whether you like it or not–but we bet you will–you’ll have to work with each to other on balancing and take flight on harnesses. You take your kids to the park and activities all the time, but when was the last time you played together?
Hurry and pre-register for this event because space is limited.

Valentine’s Aerial PlayShop

The Power Plant
1727 Artesia Blvd. Manhattan Beach, CA. 90266; (310) 376 – 3300
Saturday, February 13th
4:30-6:30pm.
Ages: Adults only
Cost: $60 couple (call to register or email info@thepowerplantcenter.com )
Website

Few things are more romantic than viewing professionals dance the Tango while dining on a three-course Argentinean meal and wine, then afterwards taking to the dance floor yourselves for the dance of love. This Sunday the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach will set the passionate scene for you and your sweetheart at their Valentine’s Day Dinner and Tango event. The all inclusive three-course meal makes it easy for you to worry about nothing but enjoying good food, great dancing and each other’s company. Hurry and RSVP to ensure your seats.

Valentine’s Day Dinner and Tango

Museum of Latin American Art
628 Alamitos Avenue, Long Beach, 90802; (562) 437-1689
Sunday, February 14, 2010
6 p.m.
Ages: Adults only
Cost: starting at $40 for students and seniors to $75 for non-members priority seating
Website

What was more torturous, receiving the birds and the bees talk from your parents as an adolescent, or giving the speech (or even thinking about giving the speech) to your own offspring? Well now there’s a birds and the bees talk that you might actually enjoy. The L.A. Zoo’s Sex and the City Zoo event will take you and your partner (adults only for this event) on a tour of the zoos most famous animal couples. Have some fun celebrating animal mating, dating and cohabitating. Imbibe in chocolate and champagne at a Valentine’s reception before the provocative and eagerly anticipated Birds and the Bees presentation by general curator Michael Dee.

Sex and the City Zoo

Los Angeles Zoo
5333 Zoo Drive, Los Angeles, 90027; (323) 644-4200
Sunday, February 14, 2010
2:30 – 5:30pm
Ages: Adults only
Cost: $25 per person for members; $35 per person for non-members
Website

There’s nothing like a novel Valentine’s Day aphrodisiac than searching for nudes throughout a museum!  So book a sitter parents and head to the J. Paul Getty Museum for a date with Watson Adventures the Saturday before Valentine’s Sunday.  The Naked at the Getty (For Adults Only) Scavenger Hunt offers a humorous, mind-tingling search for nudity at the amazing Getty Center. You don’t need to know anything about art or the museum—or nudity for that matter—to solve their tricky questions.   After the hunt, linger in the mountain-top gardens for a romantic sunset.  The bashful need not worry, this hunt is rated a mild PG-13!

Naked at the Getty Scavenger Hunt (by Watson Adventures)

The Getty Center
1200 Getty Center Drive, Los Angeles, 90049
Saturday, February 13, 2010
4:30 p.m.
Ages: Adults
Cost: $22/person
Website

Instead of dinner and a movie for the next date night, what about a meal and a theatre show in the heart of Hollywood at a fantastic location? The John Anson Ford Amphitheatre’s outdoor stage is magnificent during the balmy summer months, but their indoor theatre during their winter Inside the Ford season is an intimate setting, with no bad seat in the house. The grounds are open for early picnicking or strolling as well.

Tickets are a reasonable $20, but on opening night, preview days (evening shows) and Sunday matinees, you pay what you can; the shows are purely donation based. So if times are a little tough, you can still get your quality couple time in with your significant other.

BobRauschenbergAmerica is currently playing until February 28, with a Sunday, February 14th matinee begging to be a special Valentine’s day treat. The show, presented by TheSpyAnts Theatre Company, is a fantastical voyage through the heart of small town America as seen through the eyes of visionary artist Robert Rauschenberg. Written by Charles L. Mee and directed by Bart DeLorenzo. (See below for performance dates and times, including previews, opening night and Sunday matinees)

Starting March 18, 2010, Lascivious Something debuts at the Ford. Presented by Circle X Theatre Company, the play follows and American ex-patriot on a secluded Greek island as he pursues his passion of wine making. Set in the 1980s, the American courts a young bride when an old lover appears revealing a mysterious past. By Sheila Callaghan and directed by Paul Willis. (See below for performance dates and times, including previews, opening night and Sunday matinees)

BobRauschenbergAmerica

John Anson Ford Amphitheatre
2580 Cahuenga Boulevard East, Los Angeles, 90068; (323) 461-3673
Now through February 28, 2010
Thursdays at 8 pm: January 21 (preview), 28; February 4, 11, 18, 25
Fridays at 8 pm: January 22 (preview), 29; February 5, 12, 19, 26
Saturdays at 8 pm: January 23 (opening night), 30; February 6, 13, 20, 27
Sundays at 3 pm & 7 pm: January 24, 31; February 7, 14, 21, 28
Ages: Adults
Cost: $20 Adults, $12 Student and Seniors, and Pay-What-You-Can on Sunday matinees, Preview Nights and Opening Night
Website

Lascivious Something

John Anson Ford Amphitheatre
2580 Cahuenga Boulevard East, Los Angeles, 90068; (323) 461-3673
March 18, 2010 May 1, 2010
Thursdays at 8 pm: March 18, 25 (previews); April 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
Fridays at 8 pm: March 19, 26 (previews); April 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
Saturdays at 8 pm: March 20 (preview), 27 (opening night); April 3, 10, 17, 24 ; May 1
Sundays at 2 pm & 7 pm: March 21 (preview), 28; April 4, 11, 18, 25
Ages: Adults
Cost: $20 Adults, $12 Student and Seniors, and Pay-What-You-Can on Sunday matinees, Preview Nights and Opening Night
Website

Enjoy an evening of art, music, wine and Tarot readings at this Saturday evening’s opening reception of two new exhibits at The Craft and Folk Art Museum: Bold Abstractions and The Fool’s Journey.

The Fool’s Journey will show you the history and symbolism of the Tarot and offer a peek into the ancient mystical philosophy and iconography that shaped the popular art form. Did you know that the Tarot started as a card game in 15th century Northern Italy and was ultimately shaped by the alchemy and Hermeticism, mystical philosophies of the period? This exhibit will show you!

Bold Abstractions will feature textiles from central Asia and Iran, mementos of the nomadic cultures that wandered the oases of Central Asia in search of pasture for their heards along the famed trading route, the “Silk Road.” Also on view is a dazling display of mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century traditional garments, personal adornment and domestic accessories.

Opening Reception of Bold Abstractions and The Fool’s Journey

The Craft and Folk Art Museum
5814 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, 90036; (323) 937-4230
Saturday, January 23, 2010
6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Cost: $10 donation
Website

Look into each others eyes at a cool venue in Hollywood that the L.A. Times has called “Hollywood’s ground zero for singer-songwriters.” We introduced you to Lucky Diaz last fall with his foray into children’s music with his song debut “Blue Bear;” but now, just for you grown ups, he’ll perform his adult set on Tuesday, January 19.  Lucky writes songs that leave the listener moved by their sincere emotion and catchy yet creative tune. With roots firmly placed in Blues and Roots Rock, Lucky nevertheless draws inspiration from many different musical influences. His funky and eclectic style will appeal to diverse audiences all at once!

Lucky Diaz

Hotel Cafe
1623 North Cahuenga Boulevard, Los Angeles, 90028; (323) 461-2040
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
7 p.m.
Ages: 21+
Cost: $10 cover
Website