Cassidy Holden brings his Orleans Kids back to Boston Swing Central!

*Evening Schedule*
Beginner Swing Dance Lesson (included w/ price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Swing Dancing: 9:00pm – 11:45pm

*Admission Information*
Advance General Admission: $18
Advance Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13
Advance ticket link: https://bostonswingcentral.wufoo.com/forms/bsc-band-night-cassidys-orleans-kids-dec-16/

At-the-door Admission:
General: $20
Student/Senior: $15

*COVID Information*
-Similar to all previous dances, we will have limited attendance and will require all attendees to show proof of full vaccination including booster.
-Dancers must wear fully protective masks for the entirety of the dance (including while dancing). For the time being, “fully protective” means a KN95, N95, or KF94 mask, or surgical mask.
-We also ask dancers to TRY to limit attending other large events 3-4 days before attending Boston Swing Central.
-In addition to required masking, we will have windows open and fans running throughout to increase ventilation.

*Q Ballroom Address*
26 New Street, Suite 3
Cambridge, MA 02138

Gobble, gobble, gobble! As you emerge from your turkey coma (or tofurkey, if that’s how you swing), head on over to the Whistle Stop for a Thanksgiving dance party!

Join a special guest DJ (or two) and spin, turn, Charleston, and swing out the previous night’s cornucopia of Thanksgiving treats! We look forward to hosting those who stayed local as well as special out of town visitors at this week’s dance!

Believe it or not, the Turkey Trot was a real dance way back in the day! See it in action in this old movie clip and try it out Friday:

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $10
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $8

Extreme Dancesport
26 New Street, Suite 3
Cambridge, MA 02138

Phil McGowan & the Easy Winners, BSC favorites, will be back at the Whistle Stop for another high energy gig in May. With their New Orleans inspired hot jazz tunes, they will get you out onto the floor all night! The Easy Winners always get the crowd moving when they play for us and and this Friday will be no exception! Digging deep into their catalog of hits from the past, they’ll light fire to tunes like the 1921 Eddie Cantor hit: “Margie” and Louis Armstrong’s “You Rascal You”.

Here are the Easy Winners back in March, with a high energy version of “Everybody Loves My Baby”:

Lesson (included w/ admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $15
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Emily Asher and her group of all star musicians, Garden Party, bring their style of red hot trad jazz back to the Whistle Stop this week! While Emily and her sassy style of trombone playing may look familiar from her many other appearances at the Whistle Stop with the likes of Baby Soda and others, leading the Garden Party brings out the best in Asher, whose vocals and trombone take front and center in this ensemble.

The Wall Street Journal called Asher “red hot” and “very exciting” and we could not agree more!

Check out their version of “Struttin’ With Some Barbeque” at the Whistle Stop from back in February.

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

Facebook Event

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

We’ll hopefully see you sometime real soon, if not on New Year’s Eve!

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

Tonight we take our inspiration from Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers and their appearance in the obscure film, Hellzapoppin’ (1941).  Who were Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers, you ask?  Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers were a dance troupe formed by the inimitable promoter Herbert “Whitey” White back in 1935 in Harlem.  The group  featured none other than late, great Frankie “Musclehead” Manning and other legendary dancers such as Frankie’s partner Ann Johnson, Al Minns and Norma Miller.  These cats were the bomb, they wrote the book and this routine is off the hook!  Frankie himself pioneered/invented air steps back in the 1930s.   For those of you who haven’t seen this classic routine, it inspires and humbles us and we like to watch it over and over again here.

If you were around last year, you know that in the Summer, we think of Summer movie blockbusters and we’ve tried to find a few movies to use as themes for our dances. This movie is a monster, it’s top-of-the-heap, A-number-1 of all vintage Lindy Hop routines caught on film, check it out…enjoy. (FYI: Frankie is the dancer in the overalls who get’s his butt kicked by his partner Ann Johnson).

[Please note: this night was moved from June 24th…not a mistake on our site]

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00 midnight
General Admission: $10
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $8

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

No, the Lemonade Stand is not a new jazz combo gracing our venue…even better!  It’s exactly what you think it is, a full-blown Lemonade Stand, with fresh squeezed lemonade to parch our heatwave-strained brains.  So c’mon out, enjoy the libations…

…and dig the summer good vibrations supplied by the Shawn Hershey Quartet…it’s been a while since we’ve had Shawn play for us with his smaller combo, and we’re really looking forward to it!

Lesson: 8pm-9pm (included with admission)
Dancing: 9pm to 12 midnight
Admission: $15 (general), $13 (students and seniors with valid ID)

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Sorry for the last minute rescheduling of this theme, but we had a special request from one of our House Managers (Wayne) to support a worthy cause.  So tonight, BSC is donating a portion of tonight’s admission to:  Love146.  This will not cost you anything extra, same dance price for a night of excellent DJing. Speaking of which, tonight we have DJs Cara Ball & Tina Desorcy back to spin for us.

And we will also have a bunch of new dancers showing up to participate in this fundraiser, so come on out and welcome them and help them raise awareness and funds to fight child sex slavery, which is a growing problem around the world.

Love146 was started in 2002 with the purpose of preventing child sex slavery and rescuing and providing survivors of child sex slavery with quality aftercare. It has programs and aftercare houses in the US, Europe and Asia. More info can be found on www.love146.org.

Tread on Trafficking was originated by the Love146 Boston Task Force. ToT is a virtual event that happens across the globe beginning May 1st, 2011. Those who “tread on trafficking” put their foot down to raise awareness about child sex slavery and funds to care for survivors and those vulnerable to exploitation. Treaders ask sponsors to support them for the number of miles or hours they spend running, swimming, biking or working out in some form over the eight week period of May and June. All proceeds benefit Love146.

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

Tonight, Boston Swing Central is relocating to Springstep for the evening (we have a weekend-long, Tango marathon borrowing the Whistle Stop). Sorry if this presents any inconvenience, be sure not to show up at the Whistle Stop tonight as we won’t be there…

Also note that 93 will be closed at the Springstep exit, we recommend taking 38 up to Medford Center or Rt 28 to Rt 60 and then down to Springstep, sorry for any inconveniences this may cause.

Anyhow, we’re happy to have DJs Gina Helfrich and Micki Balder giving us their handpicked best old classics played by new bands. Simply put, they will be selecting some tracks by new bands like Glenn Crytzer, Boilermaker Jazz Band, Baby Soda, Jonathan Stout and many others that were once classics, but have been re-interpretted and re-recorded into new classics. We’re really looking forward to this night of hot jazz with chafalfah* on the side!

* Anyone know what chafalfah actually is? (this is from the song Frim-Fram Sauce originally by Nat King Cole)

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

Springstep
98 George P Hassett Dr
Medford, MA 02155

Gordon Webster is back once again with his stellar Quartet featuring vocalist Brianna Thomas. Gordon is one of the most in demand swing band leaders in the country, maybe even in the world. He’s played at every camp, exchange and special event from Sweden to Seoul and we’re lucky he’s made Boston a regular stop on his tour.

This time he brings Brianna Thomas, who reminds us of a young Ella Fitzgerald. This combination is swing dancing nirvana! And dancing to their music is what we imagine it might’ve been like to see Ella live back in 1948. Something like this. (Except, of course, unlike Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington, we wouldn’t be sitting down). So come with us tonight and let’s enjoy the lightning they’ve caught in a bottle and will unleash at the Crosby Whistle Stop, because it is pure magic!

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
Special Event Admission: $17
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $15

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

If you have not yet heard the Sweet & Low Down, you are in for a treat, and if you have heard them, then you know how great they are. The harmonies of Miss Tess and Rachel Price are the “Sweet” part and the rhythm section brings the “Low Down”. A mixture of blues and swing that is simply intoxicating.

And if that weren’t enough, we’re bringing back our “Bring a Friend, Get in FREE” Promotion.  This was popular earlier this spring, and we want to see what you guys can do this fall.  See qualifying details below.  Why are we doing this?  Because most people hear about us through a friend.  And we know how hard it is to get your friends on the dance floor – we’ve all been there.  So for those of you that can weed through all of those excuses and get someone new to our dance, you’re finally getting rewarded! 

Promotion Qualifying Details:

1)      In order to get free admission when bringing a friend, you (the dancer) needs to have attended at least one BSC Dance prior to October 15, 2010.  Your friend must have NEVER, EVER, NOT EVEN ONCE been to a BSC dance.  How will we know?  Oh, we’ll know!

2)      You must get there with your friend BEFORE 8:20PM so they can take our beginning lesson that starts at 8PM.

3)      If you bring a friend and you have also NEVER been to our dance, you DO NOT qualify for the discount.

4)      The person must be your friend and of the homo sapiens.  Imaginary friends, Lassie, ET, pet rocks, etc. do not qualify.

5)      You must mention this promotion at the door when paying admission to receive it.  You can’t come back later and ask for it if you forget (if ya snooze, ya lose).

6)      Who gets in free?  Well that’s up to you…and how good of a friend you are.  Show up with a friend and only one admission has to be paid (buy one, get one free).  How you settle up is at your discretion, but please resolve any disputes by peaceful means (i.e. thumb wrestling, drawing straws, and dance offs).

7)      May not be combined with any other promotions or discounts(i.e. get in free or half off coupons/passes, discounts received for angeling or DJ’ing, etc.  Board Members do not qualify.)

8)      If you get caught gaming the system, you may be subject to the consequences thought up on the spot by BSC staff.  May include but are not limited to the following activities with your new “friend”:  wearing matching ski sweaters throughout the entire dance,  doing a Charleston duet to “You Can’t Touch This” to be posted on YouTube, dancing in your bare feet.

New people coming by yourselves or with other people are still of course welcome!  And what a great night to come out with lots of other new people.  We’re sorry you won’t qualify this time, but if we run this again in the coming months, and you attend our event this Friday, you will qualify for next time!  

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

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Boston Swing Central is looking forward to the return of Toni Lynn Washington. This summer she played 3 glorious sets for us and inspired by all of the great dancing, she kept on playing right up until closing time at 12:30am! Toni Lynn gives us her all! She is a local legend, an institution, a master, a treasure, and the hottest blues diva in town! You won’t want to miss this night of great grooves.

Like some of the more well-known blues divas like Etta James, Ruth Brown and Koko Taylor, Toni Lynn is the real deal. At age 72, she continues to rock the house, belting it out and delivering the goods…behind a crackerjack band that is tough to beat.

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

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129 

Labor day marks the end of summer.  Time to start moving the fun activities inside (Although, those of us who love to dance don’t ever stop, do we?)

Here’s the schedule for September.  Sign up today at http://newschoolswing.com .  If you missed the first week of classes on Sept 7th, you can still sign up and join in this week!  Check out this month’s offerings below.

Tuesdays

7-8pm Advanced Beginner Charleston with Paul Mandel and Amanda Gruhl
8-9pm Lindy Hop Basics and Fundamentals (6 count) with Shawn Hershey and Nicole Zuckerman
9-11pm will be our open practice session for $3 per session, $10 for the whole month if you sign up in advance through NSS.  Teachers will stay 30 minutes after class to answer any questions and provide one on one help.

Wednesdays

7-8pm Intermediate/Advanced Fast Lindy Hop with Shawn Hershey and Amanda Gruhl
8-9pm Fundamentals of Balboa with Shawn Hershey and Nicole Zuckerman

Cost:  See http://newschoolswing.com for pricing details and for a discount if you sign up online!  $3 for practice session at the door.  FREE if you are taking a NSS class this month!
Place: The Crosby Whistle Stop where else?

It’s gotten back to us that the Jimmy Fund will be in Copley Square this Sunday.  Unfortunately, the City of Boston issued us a permit on this day forgetting there was a major conflict with this space.  It also looks like Sunday will bring rain, so perhaps it’s all for the best anyway.  But if you’re up for some dancing this weekend, you can come on out Friday to the BSC for the Back Bay Rhythm Makers!

We hope you enjoyed our free summer series which took us to East Boston, Copley Square, and ZUMIX.  Next year we are hoping to add a location in Charlestown.

Alright, so technically this Friday is not after Labor Day (which is when school starts), but school is just around the corner you can feel it in the air. DJ RetroMike plans to kick off the school year with some of his favorite songs that he has discovered recently while studying for his PhD in swingology (which is code for perusing his vast collection of vintage jazz looking for new songs).

So come on out, get ready for an exciting new season of dancing at Boston Swing Central. And to celebrate Back to School, we’ll be teaching a few mini lessons throughout the evening, 5 or 10 minute swing snippets, if you will…add some cool new moves to your repetoire…

After tonight, we’ll feature a lot more bands as the cooler weather returns, the vacation season finishes and school starts up. Next week we kick off the Fall Season with the Back Bay Rhythm Makers featuring Craig Ball and his other White Heat Swing Orchestra brethren. Upcoming we’ll have Gordon Webster, Sweet & Lowdown, Toni Lynn Washington, Baby Soda and many more…

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

It’s nearly the end of summer and Boston Swing Central is singing it’s swan song to the end of August with the DJ duo of Julie Brown and Nicole Zuckerman.  They’ll start off spinning swing tunes and sink into the soulful grove of motown and blues as the hours tick on. We’ll be recreating the feeling of those old summer night parties with the lights turned low, and the music drifting you into a sense of long summer night timelessness: all it’s going to take is our beautiful venue and two of our favorite New School Swing teachers cooking up amazing set lists from their mp3 collections.  Come and say a long goodbye to summer with us.

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