Just like any­where else in the world, the Soviet young­sters wanted to social­ize, to lis­ten to the music and to dance. The night­clubs were unheard of – any­thing of that kind would have been announced as pro­mot­ing debauch­ery or morally wrong lifestyle habits. So the best one would hope for were the dis­cothe­ques – the spe­cial dance occa­sions, orga­nized by the offi­cials on a weekly basis. They always had a des­ig­nated super­vi­sor – a school prin­ci­pal or a city coun­cil rep­re­sen­ta­tive in charge.

A Soviet dis­cotheque, most likely late 1960s.

Often enough, espe­cially in the small cities, these dance events were the only source of enter­tain­ment. Movies were scarce and arrived in towns infre­quently; the cir­cus would visit once a year; and libraries just didn’t do it.

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