Boston Swing Central and Community Boating are proud to present Swingin’ on the Charles, a night of dancing under the stars on the banks of the Charles River. This is another summer classic you won’t want to miss. We’ll take over the docks at sunset, provide a lesson for newcomers and then we’ll dance until 11 pm. *Note: No rate date this year.

Jessy Carolina & The Hot Mess is a New York based ensemble specializing in American music from the late 1800s-1930s, primarily jazz and blues reminiscent of The Ziegfield Follies, The Great American Song Book, and early medicine shows. Led by Jessy’s unique talent for playing the washboard, the group is rounded out with the Hot Mess, which comprises of piano, banjo, guitar, woodwinds, and brass.

Lesson (included w/ price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Swing Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $16
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

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

Cassidy Holden is a musician specializing in double bass, guitar, and banjo. Originally from Maine, Cassidy has been to New York, New Orleans and back and has played for lindy hop dancers in the US and Europe. Cassidy is active as a sideman with Gordon Webster, Luke Winslow King, Dan Levinson, and the Loose Marbles. He loves to play for dancers, especially with his current New Orleans style jazz band, Cassidy and the Orleans Kids!

Lesson (included w/ price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Swing Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $16
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

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

Phil McGowan & the Easy Winners, BSC favorites, will join us at Extreme Dancesport for another high energy gig! 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”.

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

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

The Foxtet is a six piece band led by trombonist Dan Fox and comprised of some of the best local musicians who have decades of combined experience playing for swing dancers. The Foxtet also features the lovely Amy Kucharik on vocals and ukulele. Fox has worked as a sideman at Boston Swing Central with Adrian Cunningham, The Lowdown Stompers, the Easy Winners and with Shawn Hershey. Expect a rock-solid beat and sweet, swinging horns playing tunes from the ’20’s and ’30’s at just the right tempos.

Joining Dan on vocals for this evening is Amy Kucharik, a singer-songwriter based in Somerville, MA known for sweet ukulele sounds and sassy lyrics, delivered with a voice and style that recall early jazz and blues performers. Amy has performed at swing dance venues in Somerville, Cambridge, and the greater Boston area as well as Philadelphia, Baltimore, Dallas and St. Louis.

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

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

Sweet Megg and her wayfaring musicians will transport you, not to the past but to a new world of their own making.  The band is lead by the charmingly enigmatic Sweet Megg, who imbues each song with her own concoction of melancholy and euphoria that will delight you, surprise you, and break your heart all at once.  The band seamlessly incorporates elements of New Orleans Swing, Harlem swing, Parisian cabaret, and gut bucket blues into one charming musical performance.  Saxophonist Ryan Weisheit reimagines a world where Sidney Bechet, Lester Young, and Charlie Parker blow side by side.  Together Sweet Megg, Ryan, and all the Wayfarers create a world where jazz is alive and well and living in New York.

Lesson (included w/ price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Swing Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $16
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

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

Join us for a swing dance with DJ Dang Mai!

Dang’s first foray into swing dancing happened in 2011 when he was lured in by a LivingSocial deal for a New School Swing class. Little did he know how many places that deal would take him, how many dancing friends he would make, and how many swing CDs he would end up hoarding as a result. His collection of music – ranging from the original 30s big bands such as Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw and Count Basie to modern swing bands like Jonathan Stout, Mint Julep Jazz Band and Gordon Webster – is constantly updated and is guaranteed to keep your feet triple stepping and shuffling well into the late nights.

Lesson (included w/ price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Swing 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

Mike H is a regular DJ at Boston Swing Central! There are about 84 years of recorded swing music and DJ Mike H dips into his diverse collection to play a little something for everyone from every era.

Lesson (included w/ price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Swing 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

The Swing Legacy, a six piece “little big band” has been a fixture of the Boston swing dance scene since 1991 and BSC since the beginning, playing with a style informed by 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 Hop and swing dancing. Much of their great catalog of songs showcases their phenomenal singer, Debby Larkin. It promises to be a night full of killer-diller arrangements that will keep you dancing all night long!

Here they are playing “Roll ‘Em Pete” for BSC!

https://youtu.be/EP8MnMiI-tA

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

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

Get ready to swing out hard ’cause Rocco and the Stompers are back! The 7-piece swing band specializes in the music of Duke Ellington and the bands his notable sidemen fronted, including Johnny Hodges, Cootie Williams, Rex Stewart, Barney Bigard and others.  Only from the Stompers will you hear the hottest songs of the swing era brought back from obscurity, covering hip tunes by the Artie Shaw Gramercy Five, and the Count Basie and Benny Goodman small groups. Led by Boston-based arranger/composer Danny Rocco Fratina and stocked with the best local players, Rocco and the Stompers are here to get you on your feet with music for swing dancers of all experience levels.

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

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

Dan Gabel and The Abletones is an authentic 18-piece Big Band, specializing in the music of the 1930s and 40s. Bandleader Dan Gabel has played with the Glenn Miller Orchestra for over a year on a world-tour, played with the Tommy Dorsey and Hal McIntyre Orchestras, and is considered an expert on the big band era. The band features vocalist Elise Roth, who encapsulates the look and sound of the big band era, dazzling audiences with her vocal precision and pizazz.

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

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

These ladies both swing dance regularly and LOVE swing music. They are excited to team up to spin you some swingin’ tunes that will keep you on the floor all night! Come on out!

Marta started dancing contemporary jazz and ballet when she was 4 years old. She has always loved music, singing, and dancing. One day out of the blue in 2012 she discovered Lindy Hop at a jazz concert and has been a swing fanatic ever since. Dancing Lindy Hop makes her smile and forget about everything while she enjoys the music and dancing with her partner. She usually DJs at her dance school in Barcelona, and also recently played the international workshop SWIM OUT last September. She loves swing music and tries to make everyone happy by  paying attention to the room and varying tempos. If you like Ella Fitzgerald, Fats Waller, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie… you can’t miss her set!

Katie loves to mix the old with the new. No matter what decade they’re from, she loves jazz songs with great rhythm and bass, killer vocalists, memorable melodies, and distinct instrumentals that inspire the imagination. (She also LOVES a good line dance or two.) As a regular social swing dancer and teacher in the Boston area, Katie particularly enjoys finding super swingin’ music for new dancers. To all social dancers, if you’re having fun, you’re doing it right. Enjoy the music and your partners!

Lesson (included w/ price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Swing 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

The New Yorkers (formerly known as “The Syncopators”) are a 1930s/1940s vintage style swing band with style! Influenced by the same swing combos as the Savoy Seven, this group plays looser arrangements, designed to be played with various combinations of instruments.  Band leader, Glenn Crytzer has become a staple in the New York Vintage Jazz scene, performing hundreds of gigs each year both as a bandleader of his own groups and as sideman in the groups of his colleagues and mentors. This is a special treat for BSC! Not to be missed while they’re in town!

Lesson (included w/ price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Swing Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $18
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $15

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

Phil McGowan & the Easy Winners, BSC favorites, will join us at Extreme Dancesport for another high energy gig! 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”.

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

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

Local dancer and powerhouse vocalist, Jan Marie and her talented band, the Mean Reds, are coming back to Boston Swing Central! Jan Marie made her BSC debut in 2013 and has since been featured in the Boston Globe and Boston Phoenix for her excellent singing and vintage fashion sense. As an experienced dancer, she knows what we want more than we know what we want! We have a pretty good feeling that Jan Marie & The Mean Reds will keep us dancing all night long.

Check out their performance of “Exactly Like You” at Boston Swing Central!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvBhNqRk4r4

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

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

Take a Study Break and Swing the Night Away! Boston Lindy Hop and Boston Swing Central are co-hosting another College Night Swing Dance. Guests of ALL ages are welcome to attend, especially college students from around the Boston Area! No experience or partner required. BLH instructors Katie Piselli and Ken Thomas will be giving a lesson from 8-9pm for beginners and anyone who wants to go over the basics. Even if you have danced before, we highly recommend coming for the lesson. Social dancing to follow until midnight with live music from Jessy Carolina!

Jessy Carolina & The Hot Mess is a New York based ensemble specializing in American music from the late 1800s-1930s, primarily jazz and blues reminiscent of The Ziegfield Follies, The Great American Song Book, and early medicine shows. Led by Jessy’s unique talent for playing the washboard, the group is rounded out with the Hot Mess, which comprises of piano, banjo, guitar, woodwinds, and brass.

Lesson (included w/ admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Swing Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
Special Student Price with Valid ID until 8pm: $10
After 8pm, Regular Student Price (with valid ID): $13
Regular General Admission: $16
Seniors: $13

No coupons or passes accepted for this evening. Thank you! 

This dance is likely to sell out. Please arrive early to guarantee timely admission!

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

Phil McGowan & the Easy Winners, BSC favorites, will join us at Extreme Dancesport for another high energy gig! 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”.

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $15                                                                                           (SPECIAL: 5 before 9 – $5 entrance fee for anyone arriving before 9pm)
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

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

Let’s swing out together this Friday to celebrate our 8 year anniversary of Boston Swing Central! We are getting this party started with our beloved Beantown Swing Orchestra AND there will be cake!

The 18-piece Beantown Swing Orchestra will be sharing their gift of swinging big band tunes! The BSO is known for their stellar performances of vintage Swing Era classics arranged for that big band sound that inspires memorable dances. The band even adds their own flair by adding in some original songs and arrangements!  As usual, the BSO will have some of its well known and talented vocalists along with them.

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

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

“You get what you get and you don’t get upset.”

Have you been concerned that dances in Boston have been a little too polished? Impressive? GOOD? Fear not. If you’re sick of rock solid planning and world-class teachers, we offer you a second rate DJ night as part of The Second Rate Swing Exchange! You can be totally unimpressed by our lack of planning. But do dance. Chances are you’ll have a good time anyways.

Your DJs for the night –

Brian Pletcher’s iPod: Brian has been collecting songs that sound like ‘Lavender Coffin’ since 2000. Brian’s iPod has previously been heard playing in the infamous “bomb box” at Boston Lindy Bomb Squad dance events held around the greater Boston area, and also last year at 2nd Rate! When asked about his music collection, Brian notes that nothing has been added to his iPod in the last five years, “But once you’ve achieved perfection, why keep going?” Brian’s iPod will be put on shuffle to ensure you are kept on your toes!

Emily Kasman’s Swing Dance Spotify playlist: Due to some feedback about Emily’s Pandora station last year (too many thumbs downs in a row…), Emily is going to debut her Swing Dance Spotify playlist! Accumulated over the last year or so, these songs will be played on shuffle for your dancing pleasure!

Plus…it’s DJ Roulette!! Who will DJ? What will the songs be? Who knows? It’s the Second Rate Swing Exchange! Show up Friday night and put your name in the DJ Roulette lottery bowl. Over the course of the night, we’ll choose 5 lucky winners who will play 4 songs of their choice (as long as they’re danceable… we do have standards here.)

For more info: http://secondrateswing.angelfire.com/

Lesson (included w/ 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

Band leader, Bryan Brundige started his journey with trombone when he was ten-years-old in Albany, NY and it has taken him all over country. This Friday he’s bringing three more band members, The Piggly Wigglies (bass, guitar, and drums) to keep us dancing hard all night! They have an upbeat traditional jazz sound and will play the “good ‘ol ones” for your listening and dancing pleasure.

Check out their new recordings HERE.

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Swing Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $16
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $13

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

The Swing Legacy, a six piece “little big band” has been a fixture of the Boston swing dance scene since 1991 and BSC since the beginning, playing with a style informed by 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 Hop and swing dancing. Much of their great catalog of songs showcases their phenomenal singer, Debby Larkin. It promises to be a night full of killer-diller arrangements that will keep you dancing all night long!

Here they are playing “Roll ‘Em Pete” for BSC!

https://youtu.be/EP8MnMiI-tA

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

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

Phil McGowan & the Easy Winners, BSC favorites, will join us at Extreme Dancesport for another high energy gig! 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”.

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

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

Get ready to swing out hard ’cause Rocco and the Stompers are back! The 7-piece swing band specializes in the music of Duke Ellington and the bands his notable sidemen fronted, including Johnny Hodges, Cootie Williams, Rex Stewart, Barney Bigard and others.  Only from the Stompers will you hear the hottest songs of the swing era brought back from obscurity, covering hip tunes by the Artie Shaw Gramercy Five, and the Count Basie and Benny Goodman small groups. Led by Boston-based arranger/composer Danny Rocco Fratina and stocked with the best local players, Rocco and the Stompers are here to get you on your feet with music for swing dancers of all experience levels.

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

Instructors: Rebecca Zub and Andrew Selzer

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

The Foxtet is a six piece band led by trombonist Dan Fox and comprised of some of the best local musicians who have decades of combined experience playing for swing dancers. The Foxtet also features the lovely Amy Kucharik on vocals and ukulele. Fox has worked as a sideman at Boston Swing Central with Adrian Cunningham, The Lowdown Stompers, the Easy Winners and with Shawn Hershey. Expect a rock-solid beat and sweet, swinging horns playing tunes from the ’20’s and ’30’s at just the right tempos.

Joining Dan on vocals for this evening is Amy Kucharik, a singer-songwriter based in Somerville, MA known for sweet ukulele sounds and sassy lyrics, delivered with a voice and style that recall early jazz and blues performers. Amy has performed at swing dance venues in Somerville, Cambridge, and the greater Boston area as well as Philadelphia, Baltimore, Dallas and St. Louis.

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

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