Gordon Webster is back and this is his Boston CD pre-release party for his Live in Rochester album which he recorded last Fall and will be out officially out the following weekend. So, what I think Gordon means by pre-release party is that he’ll have some of these CDs and we’ll get to have them before the rest of the world…but we’re not clear and the guy is so hard to get a hold of these days, he’s in Spain one day and the next he’s in Australia…! That shows you just how in demand he is. Everywhere Gordon goes there’s a big event sure to follow. Tonight is no exception. Along with the CD Pre-Release Party…we’d like you to dress to impress!

Here’s a video of the last time Gordon was here with Meschiya Lake:

And of course, there are some more videos on our YouTube Channel, just follow the links…

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:30am
General Admission: $20
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $17

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

These last few years of living in a down economy haven’t been fun for a majority of Americans, and perhaps that’s where the Recessionals derive their name. But don’t let the name fool you…this is a fun band for fun times. Check out a video of one of their songs here:

The Recessionals are the latest band from Brooklyn to grace our stage. A high energy trad jazz outfit that will get you up and dancing all night long. We’re very excited they could make the trek up to Boston to play for us.

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

Want to learn Lindy Hop?

Maybe you’ve wanted to go further than our Friday night introductory lesson, but don’t have time to commit to a weekly class?  This is your chance! Our next weekend “crash course” workshop for 3 hours on Sunday April 22nd, 12:30pm-3:30pm Come learn from experienced teachers who are also social dancers in the Lindy Hop scene.

We will cover six count basic (East Coast Swing), basic eight count (Lindy Hop), and Charleston Basic. Moves include swing out, Lindy circle, swing out from closed, and side by side Charleston. At the end of this class, you will be able to attend a social dance and dance to music.

Instructors Seth & Jasmine have been teaching at Boot Camp on a semi-regular basis.   Seth Burgess has been teaching Lindy Hop in Boston and lighting up the BSC dance floor with his gold sneakers and razzamatazz for years!  (He’s also really funny.)

12:30 – 3:30 PM
$25 advanced on-line registration, $30 at the door (register here.)

Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland St
Charlestown, MA 02129

Some of you may taken our Boot Camp over the last several months have asked us, “When is Swing Boot Camp 2?”   Well, this is your chance to get some more razzamatazz from Shawn (Potter) & Sachiko.  In a nod to Hot Shots Part Deux, we’ve got Swing Boot Camp Part Deux…yes, you too can be a hot shot on the dance floor…Saturday April 21st, 12:30pm-3:30pm.

We will review the Lindy Hop basics, go more in depth and give you some other turn variations, delve more into the “connection”, Texas Tommy and Charleston.  And as always, Shawn & Sachiko will bring their boundless enthusiasm, super revved up energy to class.  Class size is limited to around 24 so that the instructors can give each student one-on-one attention.

Instructors Shawn & Sachiko are founders and senior instructors at iSwingTokyo. Shawn was very instrumental in helping build up swing dancing in Tokyo.  He has since moved back home to Massachusetts and has been teaching quite regularly for Boston Swing Central. He brings a unique, fun and fresh perspective to the Lindy Hop. Everyone that takes his classes leaves with a smile on their face. Sachiko has also recently relocated from Japan and we’re lucky to have her teaching with Shawn as they are a great team!

12:30 – 3:30 PM
$25 advanced on-line registration, $30 at the door (register here.)

Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland St
Charlestown, MA 02129

Spring is in the air, baseball season is underway and we’re happy to welcome Shawn Hershey back to the Whistle Stop stage.  Of course, Shawn is here every week, teaching for New School Swing…but tonight, he gets to play his trumpet. And he’s bringing some fellow dancer/musicians…

Jan Marie a vocalist extraordinaire who is sure to dazzle and mesmerize. And Mike Valdez, crackerjack piano player who helped us find our 1901 Steinway piano.

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

Swing Legacy, a six piece little big band has been a fixture of the Boston swing scene since 1991, playing with the style and informed 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 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 exciting original arrangements that will keep you dancing all night long!

Here’s a short story as told to us by their larger-than-life saxophone player, Ted Casher

(on right) Ted Casher

“I was gigging with Bo Winiker Orchestra at the Faneuil Hall Rotunda for a Wellesley College 10-year class reunion. Bo said that we could play anything we wanted, only as soft as possible! We were playing bebop tunes, the ladies were reuniting, when I noticed a tall, good-looking man listening intently, standing up against the wall. At the end of the set, he came up to me and asked, “Is that the new Dukoff mouthpiece? I’ve heard about it. Sounds good!”

We talked on—he was knowledgeable about reeds and mouthpieces, and I asked “Are you playing now? He answered, “Not much these days. I’m the Governor of Arkansas, and I don’t have time to practice.”

I then asked, “Wanna play?” He said, “Sure!”, and so I grabbed Bo and said “I’ve got a tenor player who wants to sit in—he’s the Governor of Arkansas.” Bo said “Sure”, and so I gave William Jefferson Clinton a spare strap and my tenor sax. I grabbed my alto, and we all played.

We played some blues, followed by “Perdido”, then “Take the A-Train.” You could tell that Bill had spent time with the instrument — he knew such minutae as the out-choruses to “Perdido” and “A-Train”. He also soloed well — didn’t make any blatant errors!

The alumnae were beginning to come up to the bandstand to watch him play, and after the set was over, a lady with brown wavy hair and big hexagonal glasses came up and said to him “You sounded great, Dear!” It was Hillary Rodham Clinton!

The next time I saw Bill Clinton, I was playing a fundraiser for him at the Parker House. And the next time, I was in DC with the Winiker Orchestra, playing lead alto at his Inauguration!”

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 happy to share our 4th Anniversary with everyone. It’s hard to believe that only 4 years ago, we were launching this amazing journey at St Mary Orthodox Church in Central Square, Cambridge. Several venues and years later, hundreds of dances, dozens of bands, thousands of dancers and a piano later and here we are! Swinging on top of the world every Friday night at the Crosby Whistle Stop.

Well, since Beantown Swing Orchestra helped us launch our very first dance, we thought we’d invite them back to help us recapture that feeling we had 4 years ago. We’re also making this a Vintage Dress Up night, so break out those awesome threads and let’s party like it’s 2008! Or more like 1949!

Here are their American Idols’ Jen Hirsch and John Stevens starring in a cute video for the song (it also stars the Green line)…

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

Bria Skonberg brings her amazing Hot Five back to Boston Swing Central. And after the last time, we can safely say, this is a band that you never want to miss. They are hot jazz that will have you lindy hopping on air! The band tore it up, and we can’t wait for more!

Bria has spent a lot of time playing with Baby Soda, Glenn Cryzter’s Syncopators, and the Louis Armstrong Centennial Band. An accomplished trumpet player, she’s also an excellent singer, and a A-One band leader…we’re so glad she can assemble this kind of talent and bring her Hot Five back to BSC!

Check out her jaunty and jubilant playing in this video:

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 12:30am
General Admission: $17
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $15

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

The Blue Vipers are back!   They’ve played for us a couple of times before, and we’re hoping they send March out like a Lion (well, figuratively speaking in this non-Winter sorta Winter).  Their unique brand of hot jazz which features some virtuosic washboard, pots and pans playing and their ready to tear it up this Friday night.  You might need to bring a towel and an extra shirt…because it’s going to be an evening on the up tempo side of things.  So for those of you who crave speed…this might be your night.  The rest of us will wait for their singer to croon a blue moon betwixt all the crazy jitterbuggin’ numbers…

The band often busks on the street in New York, and there are plenty of videos of them on YouTube swinging in Central Park, but here we find them at the Long Beach Public Library:

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

The Joint is Jumping! If Fats Waller could only sit at our 1901 Steinway like this…

Where is that Flux Capacitor when you need it? …but we’re actually really happy living in this period of time and having such a great dance space as the Crosby Whistle Stop and such a fun crowd of dancers to fill it every Friday night. And when someone like Gordon Webster sits behind our piano, well, he is our Fats Waller! Or maybe he’s our Count Basie (since he doesn’t sing), but anyhow you get the idea.

The talent that has graced the corner of our hall has been nothing less than astounding, we’re really in the midst of an exciting new jazz and swing renaissance. We hope you’re enjoying every minute of it! Boston Swing Central has managed to showcase the best swing bands in the region, if not the country and with a frequency that makes us one of the marquee dance scenes in the country. We look forward to every Friday night with anticipation…and we just wanted to take a moment to contemplate how lucky we are…

This Friday, we’ll be turning over the music to our fine DJs who will comb through their CDs and mp3s for the finest music from roughly 80 years of swing music! The joint will be jumping!

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

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

It’s already March, and this Winter has been more lamb than lion. But how will March greet us…either way, we know we’ll be dancing and having a grand ole time at the Crosby Whistle Stop!

Phil McGowan is back with his quintet. A band of hot players assembled by a sometimes drummer for Baby Soda, Gordon Webster & Beantown Swing Orchestra.

Phil’s quintet is centered around his electrifying drumming and some hot guitar playing…this is a concept he has slowly been evolving at the Crosby Whistle Stop. His endless enthusiasm for the music is infectious and translates into a band that you won’t want to miss!

And now for a musicology lesson:

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 welcomes back, local Diva extraordinaire, Toni Lynn Washington. Toni Lynn rocked the the Crosby Whistle Stop on several occasions last year.   This is her first time in 2012 and we are looking forward to her hearing her soulful voice and her deep grooves this Friday. She is a local legend, an institution, a master, a treasure, and we’re happy to have her once again!  Not to be missed!

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

Some of you might be scratchin’ your heads as to why we’ve called this night the perplexing title of “Keep Punching”, but those in the know will recognize this as the title of the 1939 Boxing movie featuring Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers.  Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers were a dance troupe from Harlem which starred Frankie Manning, Norma Miller and many others.  And we keep mentioning Frankie because he was an inspiration to many of us and we have to let you all know about him.  So you’ll keep seeing us championing him.  In the movie Keep Punching Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers perform the Big Apple in the version that is often taught and performed today, so this is indeed a very important movie in the swing dancing world.  You can see the clip here:

Tonight, DJs Alex Abdoulaev & Isaac Marx will be sharing the spotlight and spinning the tunes. There unique styles compliment each other quite well and are guaranteed to keep you moving and grooving on the dance floor, and perhaps if there’s enough people who know the Big Apple, there will be an impromptu performance!  There are also some copacetic aerials in this scene (please no aerials on the social dance floor)…

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

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Boston Swing Central is very excited for one of our most beloved dances of the year!  I >heart< Swing (our Valentine’s Day Ball), featuring our super-groovy custom-made Valentines, and our Cupids to deliver them to you! And as our musical guests, this year we have the Red Hook Ramblers from Brooklyn. This night will be guaranteed to be in our memories for a long time, so dress to impress and put on some red and pink and get ready to send your friends and secret dance crushes some Valentines…

If you missed the Red Hook Ramblers last Fall, they were one of the best bands we discovered last year, they completely tore the house down! Their exciting Hot Jazz can be heard right here Just listen to what will surely make you dance around the room in preparation for a fun night ahead!

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

The Grand Street Stompers are yet another band from the Brooklyn Jazz Renaissance scene. Led by the Jazz encyclopedia: Gordon Au on trumpet, who was just here for New Year’s playing with Baby Soda. He also frequently moonlights along side Gordon Webster. Speaking of moons, it’s one of the favorite topics of singing pixie/chanteuse Tamar Korn. To hear her sing is just heartbreakingly staggering…

Anyhow, so they’re veterans of the Brooklyn to BSC underground train. We smuggle them up here, they play for us and we send them back in the middle of the night… Last Fall the Grand Street Stompers came up during Columbus Day weekend and it appeared that a lot of folks were gone…leaf peeping or something…so they got a little lost in the shuffle.

And once again this February, they’re sandwiched in between two huge dances, but don’t let that stop you from coming out to BSC three weeks in a row…you don’t want to miss any of these dances!!! (and why not? it’s cheaper than a trip to the Bahamas and will probably leave you feeling just as warm and sunny)

Check out The Grand Street Stompers website here.

Or watch Tamar sing with them here…

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

There’s a lady who’s sure all that glitters is gold…

Gordon Webster returns to Boston Swing Central for the first time since the Dirty Water Lindy Exchange and this time he’s bringing with him a very very special guest…New Orleans street performer, Loose Marble and chanteuse extraordinaire: Meschiya Lake.

Meschiya is a force of nature, one of those rare performers that you don’t want to miss…and combined with a night of Gordon Webster…well, you really don’t want to miss this! We’re flying Meschiya in from New Orleans…Gordon has assembled a cracker jack band especially for this performance to really showcase Ms. Lake’s talents! We’re so excited we can hardly contain ourselves, shout it from the rooftops and invite all your out-of-town friends….we’re barely a month into 2012 and we’re already delivering you one of the top events of this year…yay! Go BSC! Early interest in this night indicates we’re headed for a sell-out crowd, cmon out early!!

Check out what NPR had to say about Meschiya here.

Meschiya and the Loose Marbles take it to the streets of New Orleans:

Lesson (included in the price of admission): 8:00pm – 9:00pm
Dancing: 9:00pm – 1:30am
Special Event Admission: $20
Students and Seniors (with Valid ID): $17

Please note: No Coupons accepted for this event. Also passes can be redeemed at 2-for-1 admission for this event.

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Maybe you’ve wanted to learn to swing dance but don’t have time to commit to a weekly class? This is your chance! Our next weekend “crash course” workshop for 3 hours on Sunday January 22nd, 1pm-3:30pm Come learn from experienced teachers who are also social dancers in the Lindy Hop scene.

We will cover six count basic (East Coast Swing), basic eight count (Lindy Hop), and Charleston Basic. Moves include swing out, Lindy circle, swing out from closed, and side by side Charleston. At the end of this class, you will be able to attend a social dance and dance to music.

Instructors Mike & Julie have been teaching Boot Camp on a regular basis as well as teaching occasionally on Friday nights and making sure all things BSC continue to rock!

1:00 – 3:30 PM
$25 advanced on-line registration, $30 at the door (register here.)

See bostonswingcentral.org/lessons for current offerings.

Enter the Dragon!

It’s time to ring in the Chinese New Year this Friday at Boston Swing Central, Texas-style with Odessa Rose…a Western Swing band. And it’s the Year of the Dragon that we’re ushering in! All that Tebowing must’ve worked because our order of custom BSC Fortune Cookies has arrived! Get excited and come and get them this Friday…fortune cookies with swing dancing fortunes inside!

And just in case you don’t know what this Western Swing stuff is, don’t worry, it’s got nothing to do with West Coast Swing…it is the Texas interpretation of what Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and Count Basie. Like good BBQ, you’ll want to dip your fingers in it, er your toes, and use a ladle to get every drop…

Basically, cats like Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys felt that if the Duke and the Count could swing, so could they. Except they had pedal steel guitars instead of large horn sections. And they played hot jazz country-fried, and country songs hot jazz style and yee-haw, Western Swing as a genre of music was born! Lucky us!

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

So it’s Monday morning, and you’re standing at the coffee machine talking to your work buddy.  “What did you do for New Year’s?”  You went swing dancing!!!  You’re so excited, and you want your friends to come too!  But inevitably, no matter how many times you ask them, something always come up…I’ve got this date with a guy I met on OkCupid.  He’s got his head buried in his iPhone, but his picture looks cute…I’ve got to catch up on Glee!…. I’m too tired after the work week……  Blah blah blah.  Help them fulfill that New Year’s Resolution to do more fun things, to exercise more, to be more social…to swing dance!

We know how hard it is to get your friends on the dance floor – we’ve all been there.  And for those of you that can weed through all of those excuses and get someone new to our dance, you’re finally getting rewarded!  Help your friends make that New Year’s resolution come true!

For this night and for this night only, if you bring a friend that has NEVER been to our dance, you (the hard working, dedicated, good looking, suave dancer) get in FREE!

And not only do we have a special promotion, but we’ve got Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade straight outta Brooklyn. Miss Tess brings her sultry voice and swingin’ guitar to the Whistle Stop. Her catchy repertoire should get your friends toe-tapping and wanting to dance! What could be a better experience to start folks off right (on the right foot..tee hee) in their dancing careers? Start working on you friends NOW!

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 January 13, 2012.  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 8:10PM so they can take our beginning lesson that starts at 8PM. We will be strict about this!

3)      If you bring a friend and you have also NEVER been to our dance, you DO NOT qualify for the discount. (Hey these are our rules and it’s not two new people for the price of one.)

4)      The person must be your friend and of the homo sapiens species.  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: 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

It’s January, and hopefully you’ve made a New Year’s resolution to dance more! Yes, that’s the ticket! Dance more=be more happy, right? So it’s now time to hunker down and get some great dancing in and reconnect with all our friends.

Our 2012 schedule starts off with a local favorite: Shawn Hershey Quintet. With the heart of a true Lindy Hopper, Shawn knows what kind of swing music that we really like. So get excited.

This night kick things off for what promises to be another GREAT year at the Crosby Whistle Stop. 2012 will bring us Meschiya Lake with Gordon Webster, the Red Hook Ramblers at our Valentine’s Day Dance, our 2nd Dirty Water Lindy Exchange, the Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest, Calling All Zombies 5…and so many other great moments to look forward to!

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

Boston Swing Central is hosting a New Year’s Eve Gala in the style of the famous Great Gatsby. For those of you fretting over New Years plans, worry no more!

What is the New Year’s Eve Great Gatsby Gala?…a swing dance party harking back to the roaring 20s! Vintage black tie dress-up encouraged (but not required)…Charleston and Black Bottom were the dances of the day…Our vintage Paper Moon photo booth and a midnight toast (non-alcoholic – true to the prohibition era)…and to top it all off, we’ll have one of our very favorite bands, Baby Soda to help us ring in the New Year!

Make a New Year’s resolution this year to dance more!

TICKETS NO LONGER AVAILABLE IN ADVANCE. BUT COME JOIN US AND PURCHASE YOUR TICKET AT THE DOOR!
At the door (New Years Eve Night) the price will be $30.
(please note this is a Special Event, passes will be accepted, but tonight it takes 2 passes to get in.)

Boston Swing Central at the Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland St
Charlestown, MA 02129
Admission: See Above
Time: 8-9pm lesson, General dancing from 9pm to at least 12:30am.

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

Have you ever wondered why you’re so dizzy after doing a bunch of swing outs? Or perhaps you’re a little wobbly when you do a turn. This class will give us some techniques and exercises to make us more comfortable and aware of ourselves which will give us more confidence on the dance floor. Natalya’s techniques for balancing and turning apply to all of the partner dances we do at Boston Swing Central, such as the Lindy Hop, Blues and Balboa. All levels are welcome, no experience is required.

Natalya brings here considerable talent as an amazing Lindy Hopper and Ballet dancer to help us get in tune with our centers, become more balanced, and poised. She enjoys teaching locally and is known for her sense of balance, beautiful lines, and friendly personality.

Lesson : 8:30pm – 9:30pm
$10 advanced registration via website, $12 at the door (register here.)

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

You might have seen folks doing Charleston at a dance, likely they are doing side-by-side Charleston. Perhaps you know how to do this already and use the effervescent Charleston as part of your dance. But do you know Tandem Charleston? This is the crowd pleasing Charleston where the follower is in front and the leader is in the back chugging like a choo-choo train.

Brian and Kellian will be teaching us how to get into and out of Tandem Charleston. And once we’re in Tandem Charleston, they’ll show us some of their favorite moves that you can do while remaining in the Tandem Charleston mode (if you will). We recommend this for intermediate dancers and above.

Brian and Kellian Pletcher are some of our favorite teachers at Boston Swing Central. They bring their considerable talents and energy to our dance scene as organizers of the Lindy Bomb Squad which frequently performs in random public places.

Lesson : 7:30pm – 8:30pm
$10 advanced registration via website, $12 at the door (register here.)

The Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland Street
Charlestown, MA 02129

Ever want to learn to swing dance but don’t have time to commit to a weekly class? This is your chance! Our next weekend “crash course” workshop for 3 hours on Sunday December 11th, 1pm-4pm Come learn from experienced teachers who are also social dancers in the Lindy Hop scene.

We will cover six count basic (East Coast Swing), basic eight count (Lindy Hop), and Charleston Basic. Moves include swing out, Lindy circle, swing out from closed, and side by side Charleston. At the end of this class, you will be able to attend a social dance and dance to music.

Shawn Potter has recently returned to the states from Tokyo, where he ran iSwingTokyo. Shawn has made a name for himself world-wide with his passion and dedication to Lindy Hop as a “lead and follow dance.” He uses his extensive knowledge of body movement, body mechanics and connection to teach and inspire people to dance and become better at Lindy Hop. Shawn’s teaching focuses on the fundamentals of Lead and Follow using rhythm and natural body movement as the basis of the dance. Shawn’s style has been described as playful, solid, clear and musical. His dancing and philosophy have won the respect of many of the top dancers and instructors in the USA, Canada, Europe and Asia.

1:00 – 3:45 PM
CLASS IS FULL, Next Boot Camp is Jan 22nd!

Crosby Whistle Stop
24 Roland St
Charlestown, MA 02129