Feelings of sadness and depression are common during the holidays, but not inevitable.

Experts offer a variety of practical tips to keep the blues away during the dark chill of winter. Quick fixes like yoga, meditation, music, art appreciation and talking with friends come to mind. 

The best advice though is to just keep moving – literally. The La Pena Cultural Center, on Shattuck Avenue at the Oakland/Berkeley border, a casual get-together encourages all of that in one locale. 

It is blues dancing, a stylish form of improvised partner dance – moving for the sake of not losing momentum. At Beat the Blues, the teachers incorporate numerous styles of dance from hip hop, salsa, tango, west coast swing, dub step into the groove of down home blues fusion music. 

Wednesday night blues at La Pena, was founded by Ted Maddry, who had previously taught at The Beat, Eddie Brown Center for the Arts on 2560 Ninth St. in Berkeley. Maddry said a rent increase forced him to find a new place last January. It took him seven months, but faith landed him at La Pena located two blocks from the Ashby BART, while riding his bike in search of an apartment. 

Many of the regulars are satisfied with the new place, being that the cultural center is also attached to a restaurant that serves sangrias and chilean empanadas late into the night.     

During a recent session, at least a dozen couples shift to the catchy lyrics, a slow gradual weight change from right to left with each pulse.  The two bodies move as one, changing direction, right to left, left to right in a calm, relaxed pace. Slim Harpo’s slow groove, “I’m a King Bee” plays in the background: “Well I’m a king bee. Buzzing ‘round your hive.  Well, I can make honey, baby. You gotta let me come inside.”

It’s slow enough so you can have a heart to heart talk with someone, enjoy the company for a three- or four-minute soiree, then move forward to meet your next partner. After a while, you can make friends with everyone in the room, a song at a time.

“There’s always someone to help you learn and great, if you like the music,” Telind Bench, 21, says. The fourth-year Mechanical Engineering student at University of California, Berkeley, was there - in the middle of finals - volunteering as a host at the door. Many of the people you meet here are also regulars at Shades of Blues, a similar Monday night blues venue in San Francisco. Blues gave him a way to move that he claimed did not hurt. Bench previously endured injuries from skiing, cycling and running that made moving his joints unbearable.

“Blues helped me to feel more confident in myself," he said. "I have also met a lot of people. Everyone is friendly here.”

If You Go

Beat the Blues - "Mind and body therapy"

When: Wednesday nights, lessons start at 7 p.m. with dancing till 11 p.m.

Where: La Pena, 3105 Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley

Cost: Sliding scale of $6-$16.

Details: http://beyondblues.com/eb