Sober? Yes. -- Dull? Never! -- No-Alcohol Dance Clubs Let Teens, Parents Have A Cool Time In A Safe-And-Sane Setting

Here are some of the clean and sober, safe and sane places for all ages to dance in the Seattle/Tacoma area:

-- The 42nd Street Annex, 4241 Roosevelt Way N.E., open 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays, and Sundays of three-day weekends. Free movies with free popcorn at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays (schedule changes; call first: 632-1400). AA meetings are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

-- The 79th Street Annex, Redmond (881-9950). Teen dancing, games, snacks and beverages. Taped music.

-- The 449 Club, 300 N.W. 85th St., Seattle (784-1293). Dancing, games, soft drinks, snacks. Some live music, mostly taped. Offers a free kids' dance 2 to 5 p.m. Saturdays.

-- Wanda's Club Four, 15709 Highway 99, Lynnwood (742-1510). Teen dancing, mix of live bands, deejays. Snacks, beverages, games.

-- Club Tacoma, 506 Sixth Ave., Tacoma (1-206-572-8161). Solid gold, pop music, contests, snacks, beverages. Mix of live music, mostly jazz and blues, with tapes. First sober club in area, in business eight years. Allows no professional-style athletic jackets or hats - i.e., gang wear.

-- The Underground, 4518 University Way N.E. (548-9362). Alternative underground music for dancing; 18 and over. Snacks and beverages. -----------------------------------

Several all-age nightclubs have earned a bad "rap" for attracting teens and young adults bent on trouble. But The 42nd Street Annex, and a handful of other teen clubs from Tacoma to Everett, don't seem to make the headlines, don't have a problem keeping order, and are even drawing in a few frolicking parents, some of whom dance right along with the kids.

Most clubs play wall-to-wall tapes, with up-against-the-wall sound levels, for off-the-wall dancers. All play on patrons' desires for great dance action in a clean-and-sober yet "cool" setting.

"They get to know you there," says Jeremy Miller, 17, a regular for the past two years at The 42nd Street Annex in the University District. The tall, lithe athlete aced his first dance contest, and started coming to the club once or twice a week. He dances to the wee hours of the morning with his friends.

"It's a good environment, somewhere to go at night for someone who likes to dance," he said. And Miller likes to dance. He's a prize-winning powwow dancer of Puyallup heritage.

His dad, Alan Miller, a fisherman and former nightclub owner, has been known to drive up from Tacoma to do a little dancing at The Annex himself. The elder Miller says he's not as into the rap music as the kids, but can "stand it for an hour or two."

Inspired by the moves - the poppers, rappers and breakers - they see on MTV videos, a dancer with hot or new moves often leads an informal competition, clearing the floor while others circle around to watch, learn and cheer.

A dream shared by some young dancers is to "become famous." As Miller said, "I would like to invent a dance and music that is to Native American expression what rap is to the black man." With a safe place to practice, he's on his way.

Patricia Carlson and her 18-year-old daughter, Jennifer, also enjoy The Annex's safe, sane environment. They drive from Bellevue two or even three nights a week, to dance - often together.

At these all-age dance clubs, no one cares whom you dance with - a same-sex partner, a parental partner, or no partner at all.

Patricia Carlson is a tiny, energetic blonde who works as a hairdresser. On this particular night she is in form-fitting bleached denims and sneakers, explaining that it was her daughter who started her coming to The Annex.

"I'm a recovering alcoholic, a widow 22 years, but I love going out, dancing," she says. "This is a great place to do it and be with my daughter."

Like The 79th Street Annex, its counterpart in Redmond, and other all-age clubs in the area, The 42nd Street Annex offers Alcoholics Anonymous meetings an hour before the club doors open (usually at 9 or 9:30 p.m.). AA meeting attendance is mandatory for dancers under 18.

Said young Jennifer Carlson's girlfriend, Jennifer Goeke, who came along with the Carlsons one Monday night: "Patty's the type of mom that likes to have fun. She jives, sings. She's just a big teenager. We like having her."

To prepare for a night dancing with her daughter, Patricia Carlson may take a nap the afternoon before. "You've got to rest up. This really takes it out of you! Then you sleep in the next day if you can. It's great exercise, though."

Jason Russell, 18, another club regular and a martial-arts competitor, likes not only the scene and the dancing, but also the Velcro Fly contests. Participants don Velcro suits and throw themselves with abandon at a padded Velcro wall. On this particular night, Russell placed a respectable second.

"I love any kind of dancing," he said. "I've been coming in here a year and a half. I won the dance contests at Wanda's Club Four up on Aurora two years in a row."

Sober one year, Russell said he wants to become famous for dancing or rock singing, but he's had no formal training.

"I was in square dance for four years," he said. "Then I'm in R.O.T.C. at Snohomish High School. I try to work military maneuvers into my moves."

Kelly Farnsworth, a 1960s teen-idol look-alike, runs the Annex nightclubs. He would like to open a third in Everett. The clubs are under the aegis of Club Sober Inc., "a clean and sober nightclub." He is a recovering alcoholic himself and seems to have more energy than many of the kids.

"We do have Breathalyzers at the front door," he says. "We also have an `attitude check.' No gang clothes. We have searchlights until 2:30 a.m., so we do get some pretty wild people at those times. I shy away from people who look `borderline.' We've never had a fight.

"We serve espresso drinks and anything A & W Bottling can give us, for about one dollar.

"Our club really is like a family," Farnsworth adds, "especially with the kids that come Friday and Saturday nights."