C.A.S.T. KC / Social Cabaret

C.A.S.T. KC (Cabaret Arts and Social Theatre) — operating publicly as Social Cabaret — is an Overland Park performing-arts venue and multi-night social-dance community at 9050 Metcalf Ave, hosting West Coast Swing (Tue/Thu), country two-step + line dance (Western Wednesday), and ballroom (Friday) nights inside a deliberately consent-forward, beginner-welcoming culture.

Description

C.A.S.T. KC — Cabaret Arts and Social Theatre, which presents its public face as Social Cabaret — is an Overland Park venue and community organization at 9050 Metcalf Ave that bills itself as “the Kansas City Metro’s premiere incubator for performing arts education and community support through movement, dance, music and theatre.”¹² Beyond cabaret-style performance training and Saturday murder-mystery dinner theatre, its most active public draw is a genuine multi-night social-dance community that runs nearly the full week.¹³

The dance calendar centers on West Coast Swing, hosted under the “Social Swing KC” program on Tuesday (Levels 1–2 class + practicum) and Thursday (Levels 1–3 leveled classes + a late social, 7–11pm), curated by leads Jesse Lopez & Ariel Peck with a rotating roster of Kansas City instructors.⁴⁵⁶ “Western Wednesday” brings country two-step and line dancing with instructor Shari Augustine (Intro to Two-Step 7–7:30, expanded class 7:30–8:30, then country social swing + line dancing to 11pm).⁷ Fridays host an all-levels ballroom class + social dance in partnership with The Ballroom KC, ranging across Waltz, Cha Cha, Foxtrot, and crossover into country and West Coast Swing.⁸

The venue is explicitly beginner-welcoming and consent-forward: its floor culture is built on stated community standards of “consent, empathy, and duality,” with a large posted code of conduct at the entrance — anyone may ask anyone to dance, anyone may decline any dance, no teaching on the social floor, and no recording individual dancers without consent.⁶ The space (the “Metcalf Ballroom”) seats up to ~150 / ~250 total and operates as a no-alcohol environment.⁸⁹

”Social Swing KC” — alias, not a separate business

Social Swing KC (web: socialswing.dance; IG @socialswingkc; email socialswingkc@gmail.com) is the brand of C.A.S.T.’s West Coast Swing program, not an independent business. Its Tuesday/Thursday WCS nights are held at C.A.S.T. / Social Cabaret (9050 Metcalf Ave) and led by the same Jesse Lopez & Ariel Peck team.⁴⁵ Per the dance-scene compilation, “Social Swing KC = the C.A.S.T. WCS program’s brand → record it as an alias on the C.A.S.T. page, not a new page.”¹⁰ It is therefore recorded here as an alias of this entity. (Note: the program also appears under the IG handle @bodylanguageswing on the main C.A.S.T. site.¹)

Ownership and history

C.A.S.T. KC was founded on a stated mission to “provide a welcoming, vibrant venue for Adult Artists to share their performance gifts in Theater, Music and Dance with the wider KC metro community,” explicitly framed around reviving vaudeville-style variety theatre and building sustainable careers for adult performers.¹² Phase-1 dance-scene research credits it with roughly a four-year track record (placing its founding ~2021–2022), though the exact founding year is unconfirmed.¹⁰

The West Coast Swing program leads are Jesse Lopez and Ariel Peck, both competitive WCS dancers. Jesse Lopez teaches a “body language” curriculum centered on an inclusive, consent-focused environment and references his “home community in KC.”⁵ Ariel Peck trained from age 10 across ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip-hop, and tumbling, discovered West Coast Swing in 2014, and has since competed nationally and internationally; she is also listed as a guest instructor at Danznik Studios in NYC.⁵ Country two-step / line dance (Western Wednesday) is hosted by Shari Augustine;⁷ ballroom Fridays are run in partnership with The Ballroom KC (a separate roving instructor collective tracked elsewhere in the dance compilation).⁸

Timeline

Year	Event
~2021–2022	C.A.S.T. KC / Social Cabaret established (est.; ~4-yr track record per research)
2024–2026	Active multi-night social-dance program (WCS Tue/Thu, Western Wednesday, Ballroom Fri) + cabaret/dinner theatre; covered by Visit Overland Park, ArtsKCGo, Kansas City Magazine listings

Links

• Official site: https://www.socialcabaret.com/
• West Coast Swing program (Social Swing KC): https://socialswing.dance/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/socialcabaret/ · https://www.instagram.com/socialswingkc/ (program)
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/socialcabaret
• Visit Overland Park listing: https://www.visitoverlandpark.com/directory/cabaret-arts-and-social-theatre-cast/
• ArtsKCGo organization page: https://artskcgo.com/organization/cabaret-arts-and-social-theatre-of-kansas-city-c-a-s-t-kc/
• Phone: (913) 999-9050

Sources

Disputes

• Door price: Social Swing KC site says $15 (Tue/Thu WCS); socialcabaret.com booking page says $20 (Thu WCS) while Western Wednesday and Friday ballroom say $15. Both retained pending a confirmation call.

Notes for Strategist

• ** map-pin** — single fixed venue at 9050 Metcalf Ave, Overland Park, KS 66212; add Map pin with dance-studio primary. (Unlike The Ballroom KC / Steppers, this one has a real fixed address.)

Footnotes

1. https://www.socialcabaret.com/ — Official website. Asserts: organization name Cabaret Arts and Social Theatre / public brand “Social Cabaret”; mission as “the Kansas City Metro’s premiere incubator for performing arts education and community support”; weekly events (Social Swing Tuesday class & practicum, Social Swing Thursday WCS class & social hosted by Jesse Lopez and Ariel Peck, Ballroom Class & Social Dance Night on Fridays hosted by The Ballroom KC, Saturday murder-mystery dinner theatre); IG @socialcabaret and @bodylanguageswing; email socialcabaret@gmail.com. (Main-site dance pricing displayed as $20.) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. https://www.visitoverlandpark.com/directory/cabaret-arts-and-social-theatre-cast/ — Visit Overland Park directory. Asserts: address 9050 Metcalf Ave, Overland Park, KS 66212; phone (913) 999-9050; website socialcabaret.com; description as KC Metro performing-arts incubator offering West Coast Swing, ballroom, cabaret performance training, murder-mystery performances, karaoke; “supportive, no-pressure environment.” ↩ ↩²

3. https://artskcgo.com/organization/cabaret-arts-and-social-theatre-of-kansas-city-c-a-s-t-kc/ — ArtsKCGo organization page. Asserts: full name Cabaret Arts and Social Theatre of Kansas City (C.A.S.T. KC); mission to serve adult artists and the KC metro community; venue at 9050 Metcalf Ave. ↩

4. https://socialswing.dance/social-nights/ — Social Swing KC official site. Asserts: Tuesday WCS 7–9:30pm (Levels 1–2 class 7–8pm + social 8–9:30pm; 4th Tuesday = mini private lessons) and Thursday WCS 7–11pm at Cabaret Arts & Social Theatre, 9050 Metcalf Ave, Overland Park, KS 66212; $15 per night (class + social); email socialswingkc@gmail.com; FB/IG/YouTube/Spotify links. Establishes Social Swing KC as venue-based at C.A.S.T. ↩ ↩²

5. https://www.danznik.com/team/jesse-lopez-ariel-peck/ — Danznik Studios instructor bios. Asserts: Jesse Lopez teaches body-language WCS, consent-focused inclusive environment, “Instructor, Judge, and Competitor across the States and beyond,” references his “home community in KC”; Ariel Peck trained from age 10, discovered WCS in 2014, competed nationally/internationally, guest instructor at Danznik Studios NYC. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

6. https://www.socialcabaret.com/service-page/social-swing-thursday-wcs-class-social — Official booking page. Asserts: Thursday WCS, 7pm check-in / warm-up, three leveled classes (L1–L3) 7:30–8:30, social 8:30–11pm; $20 per person; hosts Jesse Lopez & Ariel Peck curating a rotating roster of KC instructors; welcomes newcomers and experienced dancers. Consent-forward floor culture (“consent, empathy, and duality”; posted code of conduct) corroborated by https://yourgloriousadventure.com/adventures/west-coast-swing-dance-in-kc-at-cast/ (which cites “$15 per night” and a 5-class pass / membership options). ↩ ↩²

7. https://artskcgo.com/event/western-wednesday-country-western-two-step-line-dancing/ — ArtsKCGo event listing. Asserts: “Western Wednesday — Country Western Two-Step & Line Dancing” every Wednesday at 9050 Metcalf Ave; Intro to Country Two-Step 7–7:30pm, Country Two-Step Expanded 7:30–8:30pm, Country Social Swing with Line Dancing 8:30–11pm; hosted by instructor Shari Augustine; all levels welcome. (A companion search result cited $15 for Western Wednesday.) ↩ ↩²

8. https://www.socialcabaret.com/service-page/ballroom-class-social-dance-friday-night — Official booking page. Asserts: Friday Ballroom Class & Social Dance, 7:30–10:30pm (class 7:30–8:30, social 8:30–10:30); $15; hosted by The Ballroom KC; “all types of dances from Waltz & Cha Cha to Country & West Coast Swing”; no-alcohol venue; all levels welcome. ↩ ↩² ↩³

9. https://www.socialcabaret.com/metcalf-ballroom — Official “Metcalf Ballroom” page. Asserts: event space with expansive dance floor, high ceilings, mirrors; capacity ~150 seated / ~250 total. ↩

10. Dance-Social-Compilation-Strategy — KS.City internal Phase-1 dance-scene research (2026-06-15). Asserts: C.A.S.T./Social Cabaret as a STRONG multi-night social-dance find at 9050 Metcalf; “Cabaret Arts and Social Theatre” umbrella with “Social Cabaret” public brand; WCS Tue/Thu, Western Wednesday (country two-step + line dance, instr. Shari Augustine), Ballroom Fri (with The Ballroom KC); “$15 door / $5 first-time; free intros; consent-forward culture”; leads Jesse Lopez & Ariel Peck (KC WCS competitors); ~4-yr track record; “possibly a nonprofit; owners’-roots for tier”; ruling that “Social Swing KC = the C.A.S.T. WCS program’s brand → alias on the C.A.S.T. page, not a new page.” ↩ ↩²