Wayne started swing dancing in the 90’s after watching an old VHS cassette of Swingers one too many times.  After spending a number of years dabbling in dance, he found himself sucked in to Boston Swing Central by the extra-friendly people and pure fun.  Wayne’s philosophy of dance is that dancing is the most natural expression of joy, and as long as you and your partner are happy, you’re doing it right.

In addition to dancing, Wayne has a deep love of origami and jazz music.  If you see him at a dance, ask him to make you a crane, or ask him the difference between sweet, hot, and jump music.  You will make his day.

wayne@bostonswingcentral.org

Katie was truly inspired by joyful, high energy dancing back in middle school when she performed with the New Hampshire Dance Institute (NHDI), described as “somewhere between Broadway and the playground.” She truly missed it and just when she never thought she could find the “adult” version, she discovered Lindy Hop in 2009 and it was magic all over again! She fell deeply in love with social dance and couldn’t be happier. Lindy Hop, Balboa, West Coast Swing, you name it! Katie is a regular in the lively Boston scene, frequenting the weekly social dances, teaching, and competing. She really enjoys live music, the Tranky Doo, teaching beginners, and dancing like she means it! In addition to dancing, Katie adores her husband (who taught her the art of social dance), her rascal of a cat, Boo Boo, and digital scrap-booking.

katie@bostonswingcentral.org

The BSC New Year’s Eve Vintage Ball is a swing dance party harking back to the lively 20s, 30s, and 40s! Vintage black tie dress up is encouraged (but not required). We will all bring in the new year together with a midnight sparkling cider toast!

This event, held this year at the stunning  Arlington Town Hall, features the AMAZING Baby Soda Jazz Band from New York City. You  will feel like you have been transported back in time. This is sure to be a wonderfully festive night of great music and dancing.

Check out the band!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4Powr2Wa_k

Check out our beautiful venue!

Photo courtesy of Nicole Chan Photography

Our “Pay-What-You-Can” deal has been extended thru Christmas. For more details, visit the link below.

Get your tickets now! https://www.bostonswingcentral.org/newyears/

TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE at-the-door!

Swing Lesson (include w/ admission): 8:00-9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:30am

Arlington Town Hall
730 Mass Ave, Arlington, MA

BOSTON SWING CENTRAL IS CLOSED TODAY.

Many of our dancers, volunteers, and musicians are spending time with their friends and families today and we want you all to enjoy that time. Have fun drinking eggnog, wearing cheesy sweaters, hugs, and (hopefully) Lindy bombing your family gatherings.  Travel safe!

We look forward to ringing in the new year with our BSC community at our New Year’s Eve Vintage Ball! See you there!

Merry Merry Christmas, Happy Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Joyous Kwanzaa, or warm wishes toward whatever you celebrate this season!   Tonight our DJs aim to give you their best Holiday Swing tunes and general good cheer. As we  dream of a White Christmas, we definitely need some swing dancing to keep our popsicle toes warmed. This will also help us dance off all of the extra holiday treats and meals we plan on consuming…

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

The 18-piece Beantown Swing Orchestra will be joining BSC yet again to share their gift of swinging big band tunes! The Beantown Swing Orchestra is known for their stellar performances of vintage Swing Era and Sinatra classics arranged for that big band sound that inspires great, memorable dances. The band even adds their own flair by adding in some original songs and arrangements! And, since the holidays are fast approaching, don’t be surprised if a few holiday tunes make it onto the set list. As usual, the BSO will have some of its well known and talented vocalists along with them!

Check out the below video for their version of Jimmie Lunceford’s “Tain’t What You Do” and see just how fun dancing to the Beantown Swing Orchestra is!

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

The Swing Legacy, a six piece “little big band” has been a fixture of the Boston swing 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://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EP8MnMiI-tA

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

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

Jason Benjamin is a New York City-based trumpeter, bandleader and songwriter. Specializing in hot jazz from the 1920s and ‘30s, Jason co-founded the Red Hook Ramblers with clarinettist Marshall Wilson in 2005. The band blazed the hot jazz revival in NYC and became an in-demand act in the burlesque and swing dance circuit. His new project, Lime Juice Jazz continues to bring the Jazz Age into the modern era, specializing in hot jazz, traditional jazz, dixieland and swing!

CLICK HERE  to check out Jason’s Bandcamp page and get a feel for his sound!

Lesson (included w/ admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $16
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $14

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

Tuesday, November 11th is Veteran’s Day and we’d like to say a big Thank You at our Friday dance to our Vets (and active service men and women) by throwing a special USO style* swing dance, like they did back during WWII. Though we have no political agenda here at BSC, it seems appropriate to show our respect to those who serve and protect so the rest of us can keep on swingin!

The USO is a private organization that has provided morale and recreational services since 1941. Their first priority has always been supporting America’s troops. USO centers and clubs opened around the world as a “Home Away from Home” for GI’s, and was a place to go for dances and social events.

In the 1940’s big bands were the cat’s pajamas. Tonight, our Boston DJs are going to honor the past by spinning our favorite classics all night long!

Servicemen and women who show up in their Dress Uniforms get in for FREE!
Veterans of WWII, Vietnam, Korea, and Desert Storm get in for FREE!
All other veterans and active military (as well as police and fire) personnel get in for $5 off!

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

*Please note that Boston Swing Central is not associated with the United Service Organization.

The Lowdown Stompers Swing Orchestra is an expanded version of the 5-piece Lowdown Stompers small group, a dixie/swing outfit hailing from New York City, the Lowdown Stompers feature some of the best and brightest talent on the East Coast. Thoroughly rooted in the music of the 20s, 30s and 40s, the Stompers can be seen playing almost every night in the Big Apple in speakeasies, back rooms, dance halls, as well as the McKittrick Hotel (the home of Sleep No More), where they serve as the house dance band in their 6th floor restaurant.

The Stompers pride themselves in entertaining their audiences with their exciting, original arrangements.

Please note: Late start time!  Everything is skewed by an hour…AND THE LESSON IS SHORTER

Check this out. Hot!

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 9:00pm – 9:30pm
Dancing: 9:30pm – 1:00am
General Admission: $16
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $14

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

Calling All Zombies! It’s time to heed the bell toll for another ghastly, ghoulish and grim Halloween party at Boston Swing Central. It’s Halloween Night AND our 7th year and this time we’re going to be a HOT (costumed) MESS with Jessy Carolina.

Jessy Carolina & The Hot Mess is a New York City 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.

The lesson tonight will feature the creeeeepy choreography of Michael Jackson’s Thriller line dance!  To show of your mad MJ skills, Thriller will be performed later on in the evening (performing is, of course, optional).

Here’s Jessy. Loving her voice…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8myRM1eYWt8

To get you excited about Thriller, past BSC madness…

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

EXTENDED Lesson (included w/ admission): 7:30pm – 9:00pm

Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $20
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $17

Get $2 OFF ADMISSION if you come in a full Halloween costume! Discount is at the discretion of the door staff, so please display some true Halloween spirit.

No coupons or passes will be accepted for this evening.

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”.

Here they are tearing it up with Boston Swing Central in 2012!

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

Get ready to be inspired by the much anticipated return of singer/songwriter and swing lover, Johnny Boyd! Johnny Boyd and Indigo Swing were legendary back in the day. Indigo Swing was a very special band and left a legacy of great recorded music that is still played by many DJs at swing dances across the country. Johnny has assembled a band that he swears “cuts glass”. Sharp as a diamond, and gleaming too…

How can you resist this?

Lesson (included w/ admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $17
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $15

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

Trombonist and vocalist Emily Asher is a rising personality in New York City. This week, she and her group of all star musicians, Garden Party, bring their style of red hot trad jazz back to Boston! This vibrant and versatile musical ensemble has been been called “red hot!” and “very exciting” by the Wall Street Journal. We definitely agree!

Check them out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HS5kwlPsWQ

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

Join us on Friday for some super social dancing as we settle into our new home at Extreme Dancesport! This is a special Lindy Hop AND Balboa dance, featuring DJ Nelle Cherry! Extra bonus: There will be some out-of-towners here visiting the city for Boston Balboa’s Tinkerbal event. Come dance with them!

Lesson (included w/ 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

Come join us Sunday night back at the Whistle Stop for one last night of dancing to close out a fun-filled weekend at Dirty Water. Your favorite DJs will be playing a variety of songs for us to dance to and bid a fond farewell to our out of town friends and our beloved Crosby Whistle Stop.

Until 2015…

No Lesson tonight
Dancing: 8:00pm – Midnight
General Admission: $10
Students & Seniors: $8

Sorry no passes or coupons accepted during the exchange.

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

With some of the most beautiful views of downtown Boston, Piers Park is a hidden gem of a park in East Boston that we love to swing out in. Come join your friends, new and old, for our annual Dirty Water Sunday afternoon outdoor dance on the harbor with tunes spun courtesy of DJ RetroMike. Since we will be dancing right on the water and it is autumn, we recommend that you bring a jacket with you.

Dancing: 2:30pm-5:00pm
FREE!

Piers Park
95 Marginal Street
East Boston, MA 02128

Take the Blue Line to Maverick
Free parking

After dancing all night in white, head down the highway down to Cambridge for another bluesy late night, co-hosted by Blues Cafe, featuring Jesse Selengut & Tin Pan Band with special guest Gordon Webster

Jesse is most well known for his trumpet playing alongside Gordon Webster, but for this late night, he and his Tin Pan Band take center stage for another special late night event.

Dancing: 1:15pm – 4:30am
General Admission: $20
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $17

Sorry no passes or coupons accepted during the exchange.

Extreme Dancesport
26 New Street
Suite 3
Cambridge, MA 02138

Gordon Webster is coming to the Winchester Town Hall on Saturday Night at Dirty Water Lindy & Blues Exchange! This is a WHITE AS SNOW (from head to toe) Vintage Dress Party! Try to wear as much white as you can. A cravat, neck tie, pocket square, shoes, a dress! Gordon and Glenn will be sure to keep us hoppin’ all night.

Check out Gordon playing with Meschiya Lake at Dirty Water in 2012:

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:00am
General Admission: $30
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $25

Sorry no passes or coupons accepted during the exchange.

Winchester Town Hall
71 Mount Vernon Street
Winchester, MA 01890

After some serious swingin’ out with Glenn and Gordon, follow Gordon Webster over to Cambridge to soak up some sultry blues at our Friday late night blues party. Gordon and Friends will keep you dancing late into the night.

Dancing: 1:15pm – 4:30am
General Admission: $17
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $15

Sorry no passes or coupons accepted during the exchange.

Extreme Dancesport
26 New Street
Suite 3
Cambridge, MA 02138

Gordon Webster has long been a Boston favorite.  In the past few years he’s become an International Lindy Hop superstar and a must book for Exchanges, dance camps and competitions.  His Battle of the Bands against himself at this year’s Frankie 100 Celebration was off-the-hook!!

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

Glenn Crytzer’s Savoy Seven is the newest configuration of bands that Glenn plays with.  This 7 piece line up, with 1 trumpet, 2 reeds, and 4 piece rhythm section, really gives Glenn the opportunity to flex his muscles and have some fun as an arranger and composer.  It’s here that you’ll hear charts for all his latest compositions as well as his newest small-band arrangements of vintage classics by artists like Benny Goodman, Count Basie, John Kirby, Duke Ellington, and more. The Savoy Seven will have you in the groove and swingin’ like 1942!

Swing Lesson (included w/ admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:30am
General Admission: $22
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $17

Sorry no passes or coupons accepted during the exchange.

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

We’re really excited for the Boston Swing Central debut of Miss Ida Blue.  She’s a bawdy backroom New York City Blues singer who fronts a band that is smoking red hot and swingin’ blues. The band features some musicians who are regulars in Woody Allen’s band and the Vince Giordano’s Boardwalk Empire band.  Some of these players you may have seen at the Whistle Stop before…New York City’s finest…and we’re not talking about the cops.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bvTglOO004

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

Sorry no passes or coupons accepted during the exchange.

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

BSC is excited to welcome back the Blue Vipers of Brooklyn! Trademarked by their rhythm section, led by a washboard and upright bass, these guys sure do know how to get the crowd swinging with their wide vocabulary of hot jazz tunes, ranging from the 20s and 30s, all the way to the Dixieland Era!

The band often busks on the street, plays regular gigs around New York, and buzzes around the wedding circuit so it’s a rare treat to have them travel to play for us!

Here’s a clip of the Blue Vipers playing the Dweck Center for Contemporary Culture in New York:

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

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Straight out of the snowy Rockies, BSC is thrilled to welcome back Jeremy Mohney! His swing stylings, band leading, and saxophone playing were pretty impressive so we are excited to welcome him back.

Since he isn’t around these parts too often, catch him while you can!

Check out his quartet’s song “Breeze Please” below:

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