Once again, BOSTON SWING CENTRAL is happy to welcome back, The Swing Legacy! This six-piece little big band has been a fixture of the Boston swing scene since 1991, playing with the polish and powerful beat of the great big bands from the swing era. Their repertoire concentrates on classic big band swing music including many Duke Ellington and Count Basie numbers ideal for Lindy Hopping. Their exciting original arrangements produce a room-filling sound that will keep you on your feet all night long!

Lesson 8-9pm / Dancing 9pm-12 midnight
$13 / $10 for students (with valid ID) and seniors
Boston Swing Central at the YMCA
820 Massachusetts Avenue, Central Square, Cambridge, MA

We at Boston Swing Central are happy to celebrate our first Anniversary with you.  The year has gone by so fast and we couldn’t have done it without you!  It’s been such a great experience and I think we’ve had some very memorable nights of dancing!  From Calling All Zombies to the I >heart< Swing! We’ve just had a blast.  And it all began just a year ago.  Anyhow we’re kicking off our 2nd year with the glorious Back Bay Rhythm Makers, who definitely tear it up old school, just the way we like it!  Let’s dress up for this party!

So tell all your friends and come early, as we’re expecting a very fun filled and packed evening.

Lesson 8:00-9:00pm / Dancing 9:00pm-12:00am
$15 / $12 for students (with valid ID) and seniors
Boston Swing Central at YMCA
820 Mass Ave, Central Square, Cambridge, MA

Don’t forget!  We’ll be at our temporary venue – right around the corner at The YMCA (click to view a map).

BOSTON SWING CENTRAL is really excited to have Rocco and the Stompers, along with their parental unit, the Beantown Swing Orchestra, play for us tonight.  So, essentially we have a little big band and a big band.  And as an extra special treat, nationally renowned singer/ songwriter Erin McKeown will join the Beantown Swing Orchestra on vocals.  You won’t want to miss this!  This is going to sell out, so get there early!

We’re also going to do a Shim Sham for Frankie’s 95th Birthday Party!  “A What Wham?” you ask?  “And who’s this Frankie guy?”  Well, Frankie Manning is one of few surviving Lindy Hoppers from the Savoy Ballroom days in the 1930s, (and also one of our guiding lights!) and he turns 95 this May.  And he’s having a gigantic birthday celebration in New York.  And for his birthday, dance scenes from all around the world are performing the Shim Sham (Frankie’s favorite line dance) for him which will be edited into a video.  So Boston represent!  We are also encouraging everyone to dress vintage on this night!!

We’ll have a basic swing lesson from 8-8:30pm and a lesson on the Shim Sham from 8:30 -9:15pm, both taught by Tony and Aurelie Tye of Hop to the Beat dance studio!

Lesson 8-9pm / Dancing 9pm to 12 midnight
$15 / $12 for students (with valid ID) and seniors
Boston Swing Central at YMCA
820 Massachusetts Avenue, Central Square, Cambridge, MA

Don’t forget!  We’ll be at our temporary venue — right around the corner at The YMCA (click to view a map)..

Once again, BOSTON SWING CENTRAL is proud to welcome back Gordon Webster and his full quartet, including his super talented vocalist Brianna Thomas.  But since Gordon is making his second appearance at BSC this year, we asked him to change it up and throw us one of his curveballs…and this time he also brings Jesse Selengut, on trumpet and additional vocals. Jesse might be familiar to you if were at the packed Brookline Tai Chi show last Fall.  Anyhow, Jesse brings an added dimension to the Quartet and makes them now a Quintet!   Brianna, Jesse, Gordon, they are going to ROCK THE HOUSE!  This band creates an electric vibe like how we imagine it was back in the day, when people were packed into the Plug Nickel, the audience sitting on the edge of their seats with excitement.

This wildly popular group draws a big crowd, so come early to guarantee your spot on the floor!  If we’re at capacity when you arrive, check back in 30 minutes and we’ll likely be able to let more people in.  There are a lot of great bars, clubs, and a fantastic coffee shop right around the corner to keep you entertained in the meantime!

To warm you up in the dead of winter and to kick off the Sweet Molasses Blues workshop weekend, we’ve brought back our Red Hot and Blues night! A hit from this past summer, we’ll feature red hot jazz early in the evening, kickin’ it old school before turning ever more bluesy as the night goes on.  We have some special guest DJs from out-of-town who are visiting for the workshops to lend their energy to our scene! So come on out and see what this talk about blues is all about.

Plus, Shawn and Amanda of It’s All Swing will be teaching the lesson tonight!

Lesson 8-9pm / Dancing 9pm-1am
$10 / $8 for students (with valid ID) and seniors

Boston Swing Central is back with another night of Swingology, where our DJs experiment and explore all sorts of different things that swing… So come on out and enjoy a variety of your favorite swing songs mixed with some new ones that you might not have considered to be swing.  This is where our DJs get to have a little fun and be creative, so we know you will too!

Kellian Adams & Brian Pletcher will be teaching the lesson tonight.

Lesson 8-9pm / Dancing 9pm-12am
$10 / $8 for students (with valid ID) and seniors

Attending a Boston Swing Central dance you might often hear us champion Frankie Manning or invoke his name in some context. You might also here the names of Norma Miller and Dawn Hampton. These three are all dancers from the original swing era. And in the case of Norma & Frankie, they are both original Lindy Hoppers from the 1930s Harlem Ballrooms.

Frankie Manning was was a dancer, choreographer, performer and innovator of the Lindy Hop. He was a member of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers a perfomance troupe which appeared in several movies and in Life Magazine. After his storied career as a professional swing dancer, Frankie disappeared from the public eye and went to work at the Post Office where he worked for years. Very few if any of his co-workers knew he was a dancer, let alone an amazing one who had invented airsteps (or aerials).

In 1986, Steven Mitchell & Erin Stevens found Frankie, brought him out of retirement to teach them the Lindy Hop. Since his discovery, Frankie spent the remainder of his life teaching, performing and promoting the Lindy Hop becoming the dance’s Grand Ambassador, and it’s spiritual leader. Frankie died in 2009 right before his 95th birthday. Many of us learned from him or were inspired by his talks. We keep his memory alive by spreading the joy of swing dancing and in particular the Lindy Hop, the Shim Sham and his favorite music, Count Basie’s “Shiny Stockings”.

If Frankie was the King, Norma Miller is the definitely the Queen. She too was one of the Founding Lindy Hoppers who has spent a great deal of her time inspiring, teaching our current generation of swing dancers.

Dawn Hampton is a little younger and was from the next generation of swing dancers. She was also a jazz musician and a cousin of famous xylophone player, Lionel Hampton. She often appeared at dance camps where she performed and spoke eloquently about the love of the dance.  If you have some time, find her on YouTube and listen to her words or watch her dance, she will lift you up with her presence, truly an inspiration to us all!

Boston Swing Central is now offering Swing Boot Camp, twice a month during the Fall/Winter months and once a month during the Summer.  See our lessons page for the next opportunity.  We also have our Kind of a Big Deal workshop weekend.

In addition to local studios such as Boston Lindy Hop and Hop to the Beat, there are many dance camps (that’s right, this one time, at dance camp….) and workshops available.  We recommend you check out: Beantown Dance Camp for a camp that is great experience and not too far from Boston.  Going to a camp or a workshop is a fun and intensified way to learn a lot of material in a very concentrated amount of time.

An Exchange is a dance weekend, that gives the host city a chance to show off as many of their best venues, bands, dj’s, and fun parts of what there is to do. The host city opens it’s doors for the Exchange weekend and invites dancers to come visit. Normally the visiting dancers are housed with other local dancers, so you have a friendly face to welcome you & ease your stay.   Boston has an exchange of our own called Dirty Water Lindy & Blues which is being run by Boston Swing Central (check out this awesome event by following the link).

In any partner dance, as in life, there are those who lead and those who follow.   The leader starts the conversation, the follower responds.  Anyone can learn to lead and anyone can learn to follow.   It’s fun to do both, eventually, we recommend starting with one role, learn that and when you feel like you’ve got a good solid command, then branch out.  There are varying theories on learning, so feel free to pursue whatever your heart and passions desire.

Nope!  Only if you want to.  Style of dress varies a lot.  We would discourage you from wearing sweats, if only because that projects a bit of a slovenly image.  Generally, though, going retro isn’t the approach most people take with their dance apparel.  You often see guys in nice t-shirts or dress shirts and either jeans or dress pants; women often wear a dressy blouse and pants, or even go for a nice dress! It’s fairly low key, though, unless it happens to be advertised as a more formal event. Pointy toed shoes or high heels are discouraged.  Wear what you feel comfortable in.  Enjoy the dance!

West Coast swing is a modern evolution of East Coast swing that is danced to more contemporary music.  The footwork is based on a 6-count basic, but has evolved in a stylized way to fit more modern music.  As it evolved, it became its own dance.  However, it is still a distant cousin, or perhaps a different dialect of the same language.  It’s similar to the differences between British English and American English.  The conversation can still be had between dancers from the various communities, but each side might think the other “talks funny”.

Lindy Hop is a dance based around an 8-count basic, and incorporates all of the elements of East Coast Swing 6-count basic), as well as some Charleston, Fox Trot and other authentic jazz movement.   It is a traditional African-American dance, and a wholly American invention; its vernacular is dictated by the dances and music of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.  And just as jazz music was a fusion of Western symphonic music and African rhythms.  And so too is the Lindy Hop: a synthesis of Western partnered ballroom and African-American pattin’ juba, tap, cakewalk, Charleston and other early dances.  We recommend further research for all dancers, starting with looking at the wikipedia page on Lindy Hop and perhaps checking out some videos on YouTube.  Especially the clip from the 1941 movie Hellzapoppin.

In general, we teach East Coast Swing (ECS) or otherwise known as 6-count swing beginning basics in our lesson.  Occasionally our teachers will teach the 8-count basic, or Charleston basics.

ECS, or 6-count swing, is a subset of the Lindy Hop codified and proliferated by Arthur Murray dance studios.  Think of Arthur Murray as the McDonald’s of dancing…and East Coast swing as its hamburger.  Lindy Hop, the predominant form of swing dancing back in the ballrooms of Harlem in the 1930s was too complicated to learn in a simple lesson.  Arthur Murray recognized that the 6-count steps were an easier subset that could be taught easily in a hour or two, so he separated those steps out of Lindy Hop and tadaa!  East Coast Swing was born.

East Coast Swing, or 6-count swing basics can be learned in a couple of hours.  But, like playing an instrument such as piano, the sky’s the limit!  Few people have sat down at a piano for the first time and started playing Mozart.  Same holds true for swing dancing.  Learning the Lindy Hop can take time and patience.  Don’t be discouraged; take as many lessons as you can from a wide variety of teachers.  Be patient with yourself, enjoy the journey, social dance alot and voila!

You can park anywhere that is blue or green marked by the colored images on this map.
If it’s yellow, you can park there if it’s not snowing. If it’s red, don’t park there ever, you might be towed or parked in.
(Don’t park along the building, where it says Enterprise-Only)
Best: park near the movie theater and walk over. It’s a 3-4 minute walk.
You can zoom in on this map for more detailed info.

Nope, just show up.  New dancers get a warm welcome by the dance community!  There will be plenty of helpful folks who are ready and willing to dance with new people.  And most dances have a lesson at the beginning too- a great way to meet newer dancers.

For most of our dances you do not need Advance Tickets or reservations.  If you’d like to take the lesson, then please show up by 8:00pm as jumping in the lesson after it’s started can be challenging to catch up.  A few times during the year we will have a special event where we sell advance tickets.  We’ll have Paypal links, or registration pages for these events and we’ll probably have some text like, “Get your tickets today, as this is going to SELL OUT!” accompanying the event.  But other than those few nights a year, most Fridays, all you have to do is show up and enjoy the dance…

A Valentine’s Day Party with the Beantown Swing Orchestra!  (featuring a little help from Cupid)

We at Boston Swing Central are really excited for this night.  Why?  Because we have a special Valentine’s Day party planned!  Not only will the Beantown Swing Orchestra provide the soundtrack, including debuting a new singer (!), we are supplying you with custom-designed Boston Swing Central Valentines so you can share the love with your swing buddies, your favorite lead/follow, or even that secret crush.  Pick up some valentines when you enter, fill them out, and drop them in one of the mailboxes scattered around the dance. Our very own “Cupids” will deliver them throughout the night. (If you don’t know their full name, it’s OK!  Just address them as “To: Dave from Maine” or “To: Danielle with the short brown hair” – the more descriptive, the better. Cupid will figure it out and deliver your message!)

So tell all your friends and come early, as we’re expecting a very fun filled and packed evening.  Beantown Swing Orchestra will debut a new singer and provide a soundtrack for a very memorable night!  (Shoot that poison arrow…)

Lesson 8-9pm / Dancing 9pm-12am
$13 / $10 for students (with valid ID) and seniors

The Standard Bearers: Our DJs play the Standards

You’ve heard these songs before: you know the tune, the words, and maybe even where the breaks are.  You may not know who wrote them, or who sings your favorite version, but these iconic tunes are the classics- the standards!

Take “Honeysuckle Rose” written by Fats Waller, with lyrics by the legendary Andy Razaf.  Or how about “Summertime”: written by George and Ira Gershwin, it debuted in 1935 in the opera Porgy & Bess and has been covered by artists as varied as Sam Cooke, Gordon Webster, Nina Simone, Gene Harris, Louis Armstrong, and dozens more.  These standards and more like them are what’s on tap this week, and our DJs will spice them up with some unfamiliar versions that will delight you in a familiar way.

Camille Fontanella from Northampton, MA and Boston’s own Alex Abdoulaev will DJ for us and carry the banner of Standard Bearers for the evening.

Lesson 8-9pm / Dancing 9pm-1am
$10 / $8 for students (with valid ID) and seniors