Tonight we have another one of our Summer blockbusters in store for you. Join us for our tribute to summertime soul and the smooth Shag dancing as exhibited in Shag – The Movie.  An unforgettable flick starring Phoebe Cates and Bridget Fonda as they head to Myrtle Beach for a little Shag dancing and a girls roadtrip.

Shag, an almost exclusively Carolina-cousin of swing dancing, has some amazingly slick footwork and smooth styling that you could put into your swing dancing if you so desired…and we just love the sweet soul music!  It’s the perfect feel-good summertime groove!  And perhaps it will give us something great to remember next January when we’re shoveling snow… DJ extraordinaire, Downtown Julie Brown will be spinning her best for us!
Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:30am
General Admission: $10
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $8

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Yee Haw! Odessa Rose brings Western Swing back to Boston Swing Central. It’s almost the end of a great summer (*sniffle*) and we’re excited for some energetic fiddle-banjo-guitar playing and their down home back porch swing.

Just in case you are unfamiliar with what Western Swing is, don’t worry, it’s got nothing to do with West Coast Swing…it is the 1940s Texas interpretation of what Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and Count Basie were doing at the time. Basically, cats like Spade Cooley and Bob Wills felt that if the Duke and the Count could swing, so could they. Except they had pedal steel guitars instead of large horn sections. With the Country and Western instrumentation in place, they played hot jazz country-fried, and country songs hot jazz-style and Western Swing as a genre of music was born. We highly recommend you check out this blog to get more information on Western Swing…ahh haa!

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:30am
General Admission: $15
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

This is the 2nd in Boston Swing Central’s 2011 Summer movie inspired themes, this time out it’s Cabin in the Sky. Which features the music of Duke Ellington, Ethel Waters, Lena Horne as Sweet Georgia Brown.

This musical comedy features some strong racial stereotyping that, today is cringworthy, but it also features some amazing dancing…from Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers: Al Minns and Leon James who enter with pimp walks and fish tails before they swing out and do aerials. And also tap duo Buck & Bubbles. We’ll do our best to recreate the feel of the time period (less the stereotyping), this movie really is an important historical document, it shows how long we’ve come since 1943, but also swing dancing in it’s original form…straight out of Harlem. Watch the trailer here:

Cabin in the Sky

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 11:45pm
General Admission: $10
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $8

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Everybody loves summer and our summer is not complete without our annual Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest. It was quite a sight to see, everyone puckering up and spitting all at once on the back patio. Right out of a 1940s Life Magazine photo…or a Norman Rockwell painting.

This Friday Boston Swing Central will bust out some of our summer favorites including “Watermelon Man”. Game on…so practice up (if you are lucky enough to find a place that sells seeded watermelons, a feat unto itself in this day and age!) Or if you’re not game for seed spitting, just enjoy snacking on some of the seedless we’ll have available as well. It’s a summer celebration!

Lesson: 8pm to 9pm (included with admission)
Dancing: 9pm to 12 midnight
Admission: $10 (general), $8 (students and seniors with valid ID)
The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129