Los Angeles’ first Rainbow skate is back starting Wednesday, June 2, 2021 8pm -11pm. This skate night is for ALL AGES and will feature mostly disco music throughout the night.
Daytime Skating is Back!
Beginning Saturday, May 29, 2021 Moonlight will return to the previous daytime schedule for Saturdays and Sundays. At this time due to LADPH County Protocols and Guidelines, we can NOT allow any parties during our public sessions. If you would like to celebrate a birthday please call the rink directly to book a private party.
SATURDAYS:
9:15am – Beginner Class
10:00am – Noon – Young kids skates
Noon – 12:45pm – Intermediate Class (must matriculate from beginner class)
12:45pm – 1:30pm – Advanced Class (must matriculate from Intermediate class)
1:30pm – 4:00pm – All Ages Skate
5:00pm – 7:00pm – Available for Private Parties
8:00pm – 11:00pm – All Ages Skate
SUNDAYS:
10:00am – Noon – Available for Private Parties
1:30pm – 4:00pm – All Ages Skate
5:00pm – 7:00pm – Available for Private Parties
8:00pm – 11:00pm – All Ages Skate
Memorial Day Skate
Come and join us for an afternoon of skating 1:30pm – 4pm $12.50 admission $6.00 skate rental. Tickets available at the door.
KIDS CLASSES ARE BACK!
Starting Saturday, May 29, 2021 we will bring back our children’s classes.
Adult classes are Returning
Our adult class will return on Tuesday, May 18, 2021 at 7pm. Please purchase your ticket ahead of time online Adult Class on Eventbrite.
This class teaches the basic fundamentals of roller skating including balance, good posture, starting and stopping, and how to get up safely. Forward and backward skating, two foot turns and skating in time to music. Skaters in this class will also learn forward and backward dance steps. All of our teachers are certified via U.S.A. Roller Sports as well as the Society of Roller Skating Teachers of America. Class admission is $20 and allows you to stay for the public session afterwards. Skate rental is $6.
Covid-19 Re-opening Protocols
Moonlight will be re-opening soon under strict protocols and guidelines from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. We will be under capacity limitations depending upon which tier the county is identified as by the state of California. All ticket sales will be online. EVERYONE entering the building must pay for a ticket whether they are skating or not. EVERYONE in the building must wear a face covering over their nose and mouth at all times, even while skating. Keep an eye on our Face Book page and our Instagram feed for further announcements.
Please follow the links to familiarize yourself with the protocols and guidelines from the LACDPH regarding Covid-19 and the re-opening of Moonlight Rollerway.
Reopening_FitnessEstablishments040921 Reopening_SocialDistancing031821 Reopening_SportsLeagues031821
If you have any questions please contact the office manager Adrienne@moonlightrollerway.com
Covid-19 Update
Since closing our doors on March 17, 2020 we have been busy behind the scenes doing everything we can to make sure we are ready to re-open as soon as it is safe for us to do so. And that direction of safety will come from the state first and then the county. As much as we would like to just “open up already” we understand science and respect the decisions made by those doing their best to keep us all safe and healthy.
A group of Roller Rink owners and operators from around the state of California have joined together and hired advocates to work with the state to help determine the guidelines in which we can open. As of right now, the State has us not being able to open until our county enters the Yellow Tier and at that time we would be allowed to open at 50% capacity. While we understand their reticence in allowing us to open sooner, we feel we can open in an earlier tier with a smaller capacity. We can still use your help to assist us with paying for the advocates Please donate on our GoFundMe page.
Last week our advocates and a rink operator representative attended a conference call with the Governor’s office. During that call they pretty much stuck to the no opening until the yellow tier, but did agree on us attending a conference call with the State Department of Health to discuss possible ways we can make our rinks safer and possibly open sooner.
Know that we ALL dedicated to opening our businesses as soon as safely possible and we are working hard to make sure that you and your families once again can enjoy roller skating as a fun, inexpensive way to spend a day or evening together. We appreciate that some of you are getting your exercise of roller skating outdoors and worry about the cold and rainy weather that is upon us. It is our hope to have you skating indoors before that happens.
We miss all of you immensely. Not just the business that you bring to the rink, but the family that you all have become. We have celebrated, birthdays, weddings and memorials with many of you and will cherish those memories.
Please be patient with us, wear a mask and maintain physical distance.
Why Do We Have the Rules We Have?
We get asked all the time about why we have such restrictive rules regarding the types of wheels we allow or more specifically, don’t allow.
In February 1956 Harry, of Harry’s Roller Rink, laid down a 2.25 inch solid maple floor. It is tongue in groove and not a nail to be found anywhere. The floor is what makes a roller rink special and because of Harry’s solid investment almost 70 years ago, the floor here, at what is now Moonlight Rollerway, is in as good condition now as it was when it was first laid.
This floor has seen many world champion artistic skaters roll over it. We have had skaters from Argentina, Spain, Italy etc. come just to practice here because of our pristine floor. It is for that reason that we have so many rules regarding our floor.
No gum in the building – Everyone likes to chew gum, no one wants gum stuck to the bottom of their skate wheel. We know most people are respectful and won’t let their gum out of their mouth but unfortunately there are those that won’t or can’t keep it in their mouth and for that reason we do not allow any gum chewing in the building. We have gum frogs predominantly placed at the entrances and on the skate rental counter to collect your gum should you forget.
No small, mini or micro wheels – The rule is that if your skate can roll over 3 stacked US quarters without knocking any down, then your wheels are cleared for our floor. The reasoning is that with the smaller wheels the trucks are lower and run the risk of scraping, scratching or gouging the floor. Again, we know most skaters are proficient and careful when using these wheels, but unfortunately there will be some who are not and for that reason we do not allow wheels that do not pass our 3 quarter test.
No bolts sticking out of your wheels (quads or inlines) – If you take a turn to quick or lean to far or fall it is too easy for a bolt sticking out of your wheel to cause a scratch, scrape or gouge on the floor. Once again, we know that there are skaters who will be very careful, but then there will be those that will not. For that reason we do not allow bolts sticking out of your wheels.
No fiberglass wheels – As we are an artistic rink, we keep our floor sticky to assist in jumps and figures. We do not have a surface that is conducive to sliding. Fiberglass wheels are the hardest, most slippery wheels made for sliders and experts only and not recommended for sticky coated surfaces. They can also be so slick they could cut through the coating and create slices, or gouges, and for that reason we do not allow fiberglass wheels.
No sliding – see fiberglass wheels.
If your plate has a place for a toe stop or brake you must have something there – We understand conventional toe stops can be intrusive to some skaters and that you can’t spin or flex completely and proficiently with one in place. However if your plate has a spot for a toe stop or brake and you leave it empty, now there is a bare metal that can unfortunately gouge or scratch our floor. We know you are a proficient skater, but everyone falls, everyone slips and that is a chance we are not willing to take. Our Pro Shop sells toe stops and toe plugs which are smaller to fit your skate. There is also a “no stop plate” available to order through the Pro Shop.
No food or drink on the skating floor – This should really be common sense, but it’s not. Food or drink on a skating surface could cause the floor to be slippery if spilled (I know you promise not to spill, the cap is on the water bottle etc.), it could also cause damage to the floor if water were to seep in to one of the grooves of the floor and get below the surface. This isn’t usually an issue during public session because most proficient skaters are aware of these dangers, but if you have ever been here during a film shoot you know it is the biggest offense.
No Hoodies Worn Over the Head – The reason for this is that we do not allow skaters to wear headphones while on the skate floor. With headphones, you are distracted and not following the same rhythm and flow of the other skaters, you are unable to hear the whistle of the floor guard and the announcements of the DJ. If you are wearing a hoodie over your head we cannot be certain you are not wearing headphones.
In the roller skating business, the floor is a huge part of the reason for being. We take a lot of pride in our floor. Without these rules we would be just another roller rink in the Los Angeles area. That’s not our goal. Our goal is to make sure this floor is around for at least another 70 years for all to enjoy.
Survey for Reopening
We hope you and your families are staying safe and healthy during these uncertain times. As you know, your family’s safety is very important to Moonlight Rollerway.
We are currently taking measures while we are closed to be certain everything is clean and sanitized for when you return. We are working with the county and state to reopen our rink as soon as safely possible.
Your opinion in very important to us. Our goal is to make sure we meet your expectations regarding safety and cleanliness when our rink reopens.
Please take a few moments to complete this survey so we can make your experience at Moonlight a safe and pleasurable one when we reopen.
The History and Importance of Music to Roller Skating Golden Age and Roller Disco Eras Examined
This is a guest post by The National Museum of Rollerskating Trustee Alan Bacon.
The following article is indebted to the Master of Arts thesis by Romy Poletti titled Residual Culture of Roller Rinks: Media. The Music & Nostalgia of Roller Skating. It was produced in 2009 at McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
This manuscript first became known to me when reading Tom Russo’s book, Chicago Rink Rats: The Roller Capital in Its Heyday. The thesis is listed in the book’s selected biography. To access the full manuscript, go HERE
Poletti referenced the NMRS: “The National Roller Skating Museum Press in Lincoln, Nebraska, produces the most comprehensive work on the history of roller skating.” Poletti also quoted from James Turner, NMRS trustee emeritus’, book, The History of Roller Skating; Sarah Webber’s book, The Allure of the Rink: Roller Skating at the Arena Gardens; and Morris Traub’s Roller Skating Through the Years: The Story of Roller Skates, Rinks, and Skaters. All these books can be purchased from the NMRS.
This article will focus on Poletti’s observations about the importance of music to roller skating, particularly in the Golden Age and Roller Disco eras. The thesis discussed other historic topics that would be interesting to explore in future articles: The role roller skating has played in cinema, the comparison between dance halls and roller rinks, roller skating and nostalgia, and roller skating in the African-American community.
Anyone who has been to a roller skating rink for a public session or a competitive arts meet knows the importance of music to roller skating. The first written account of roller skating is of Joseph Merlin skating while playing the violin. Later on roller skaters were incorporated into a few important ballets. From the beginning of roller skating until today, music has played an integral part in the roller skating experience.
The term the Golden Age of roller skating has been used by Brooks, Russo, Poletti and others to describe the boom in roller skating between 1937-1950 (though dates may differ between authors). Also, the term Roller Disco era is commonly used today to describe the roller skating boom between 1977-1981. (Again, dates may differ slightly.) At first glance, the music of these two eras might seem radically different. However, Poletti emphasized their commonality.
“During the most significant eras in the history of roller-skating culture in the 20th century . . . roller skating was intimately bound up with music. In both of these periods in roller skating history, the rise and decline of skating’s esteem within popular culture were connected to the use of music,” said Poletti. “The popularity of roller skating during those two specific eras is the result of a symbiotic relationship between rink music and movements.”
In the Golden Age, the organ was dominant: first the theater pipe organ and later the Hammond Electric Organ. In the late 1920s, “Talkies” movies became common, making the acquisitions of theater pipe organs by roller rinks a bargain. Also, many unemployed organists flocked to the rinks. These were huge machines that required much fine tuning, but they could replicate the sound of the brass band that accompanied roller skaters in skating’s first boom in the 1870s and 1880s.
“. . . the most probable reason for the rink’s return to popular culture was that roller rinks were being outfitted with new pipe organs,” said Poletti. They were popular at that time, having been prominent during the recent silent movie era, and they were highly respectable, being used in many churches. With the invention of the Hammond organ in 1935, a much smaller and simpler instrument began to gain prominence, but it essentially played the same music.
“The controlled tempos of the pipe organs produced a deeply rhythmic form of roller skating,” said Poletti. “Golden Age roller rinks emphasized rhythm inasmuch as the music and movements were in direct dialogue.” All music has tempo and rhythm, but this was a special, symbiotic relationship.
This Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ can still be heard all day Sunday for public skating sessions at the Oaks Park Roller Rink in Portland, Oregon. It has 1500 pipes. It was built in 1926 and installed in The Oaks in 1955. But this wasn’t The Oaks first theatre pipe organ. It 1922, the rink installed a William Wood theatre pipe organ, perhaps the first roller skating rink in the United States with such an organ. During the hard times for roller skating rinks in the 1920s, adopting this new type of instrument and music genre, perhaps played a role in The Oaks surviving the roller skating rinks’ doldrums of the decade, and becoming the oldest continuous operating roller skating rink in the country. The Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society lists 17 roller skating rinks in Washington and Organ states alone that had theatre pipe organs during the Golden Age of roller skating.
Pictured is Dominic Cangelosi, museum trustee, with his Hammond B3 organ with Leslie speakers that he not only donated to the museum in 2013, but personally delivered it to the museum from California. He played this organ for USARS Nationals for forty years from 1969 until 2009.
In the Roller Disco era, DJs and vinyl records replaced the organist and the organ. At first glance, this was a radical change. But as Poletti said regarding disco music and roller skating, “This relationship could be attributed to the same features which made organ music ‘natural’ in the rink; its cyclical rhythm and repetition were emulative of the movement on the rink itself.”
But herein lies the paradox. “The repetition that is inherent in disco, the feature which made it successful in roller skating, was the precise reason it met with hostile critical reaction,” said Poletti. In other words, rock and roll, and its more spontaneous beat, not only diminished the popularity of waltzes played by organists, but also disco played by DJs. The repetitive sounds of the organist waltz and DJ’s disco that so integrally meshed with the movements and rhythms of roller skating, were discarded by rock and roll enthusiasts. “The rhythm of rock and roll did not coincide with the rhythm of roller skating,” added Poletti.
Today, most rinks use music as a backdrop, similar to the way a soundtrack is used in cinema, as Poletti pointed out. Most skaters today in public skating sessions are not skating/dancing to the music, though there are important exceptions, such as Jam, Shuffle and JB skaters. Though the use of music by most public session skaters may be different today than in the Golden Age and Roller Disco eras, it nevertheless is crucial.
Poletti pointed out the current thinking in cinema studies: the importance of the soundtrack to the cinematic experience. This soundtrack is in the background of the on-screen action, but it’s vitally important. Just like a movie’s soundtrack, the soundtrack played in roller skating rinks is essential to the skating experience. What is played over the sound system may be as important as the skates and the floor. Poletti’s thesis described in academic language what any roller skater knows: the roller-skating experience has always been, and still is, much about the music.
This museum’s Ragtime Band Organ was a great addition to the museum in 2012, supported by grants from the USA Roller Sports Foundation and Ragtime Automated Music. These air powered instruments are activated by paper rolls similar to those of a player piano. Kids love to put a quarter in it, and the museum immediately reverberates with the cacophony of carousel-like music. But what creates excitement with one play, can become somewhat monotonous for today’s ears when played repeatedly.
Though virtually nothing has been written about his topic, perhaps the band organ was one reason for the 1920s being the worst decade for roller rink attendance in the 20th century.
This band organ’s sound may have been popular in the era before WWI, but the 1920s ushered in the Jazz Age and the Charleston, and perhaps young people of that era felt the sounds of the band organ outdated much like the later rock and rollers felt about theatre organs and disco music.
This 1906 Gramophone donated by Robert & Annelle Anderson’s family to the museum, was popular in smaller “parlor skating” rinks in the early 1900s. Little has been written about its use.