Welcome!

Because we are in no way done with the pandemic yet, despite appearances to the contrary, we at Boston Balboa are still taking the dance community’s safety seriously. We’re doing our best staying on top of the latest news, research, and data, and having observed several other events’ successes and failures, we believe that we can reduce the risk sufficiently to resume hosting in-person events.  We are traveling for dance ourselves again, masking up to keep ourselves and our family and friends healthy. We hope to see lots and lots of you around town, dancing Bal!

Please note: Boston Balboa events require wearing a suitable mask in the studio. Please see our COVID safety page for more detailed information.

Upcoming Classes

Tuesday Jan 7 Practice Session at Dance Complex

We chose to have Tuesday January 7’s timeslot be a practice session. Join us and hopefully the awesome new crash-coursers too, for some practice and office hours time at Dance Complex studio 2! Crash coursers, you get in free — if the rest of you could toss us a few bucks to help with rent, that would be super, but as always, pay what you can. No pre-registration page, just show up and we’ll take cash or venmo at the door. Recommended $5, 10 if you’re feeling flush. 😀

Tuesday January 7, 8-10pm The Dance Complex, studio 2 536 Mass Ave, Cambridge

Play With Your Dancing! Balboa Workshops with Rafał Pustelny, February 2

If you’ve been waiting for an international superstar Balboa dancer to come to town and level up your game, your wait is over: Rafał Pustelny will teach Balboa workshops on Sunday after the Lindy workshops with Karen Turman on Saturday! Check it out here!

Registration is open NOW!

Fundamentals series February/March, and more for 2025!

We plan to run our weekly beginner class series in February and March, so if you plan to take Fundamentals 1A and 1B on Tuesdays, mark your calendars for Feb/March – or register today!

Watch this space for info on more classes and social dances coming soon in 2025!

Keep Dancing Safely & Support Our Community

Please do pay attention to evolving recommendations for best practices, as the situation continues to change quickly and we want all of you safe and healthy. We recommend tracking the science through a trusted source such as Your Local Epidemiologist, as the CDC may not always offer the kind of information you as a dancer need to know.

We still also hope you will direct your dancing energy toward solo movement training and your dollars, if you have any to spare, toward the professional instructors and musicians who need your support to pay their bills.

Most of all, we want you to keep dancing, and we want to help support the instructors and musicians whose livelihoods are most threatened by dance cancellations. Here are some things you can do:

– schedule a private lesson, by video
– pre-purchase a private lesson for use in the future
– buy albums, t-shirts, or other swag from bands
– make a donation outright to a teacher/musician/organization
– work on your solo jazz
– do video analysis of your own dancing (you know, the thing you’ve been putting off for years?)
– really dig into some of those clips of original dancers
– strength train
– Couch to 5K (builds core strength and endurance to support your fast dancing!)

Swing Jazz is an African-American Art Form

Balboa, as a vernacular swing dance, is indebted to the African-American roots and culture of Swing Jazz and Swing dancing.  We encourage everyone to explore the history of this dance, the dancers that created it in Southern California, and the music and musicians that made it possible.

Boston Balboa stands in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and against police brutality. In support of the movement, members of the Boston Balboa team have independently donated to Black Lives Matter and to community bail bonds, and we encourage you to do the same.

Our lists are by no means exhaustive, but if you need a place to start, here we present some places you can donate, as well as educational anti-racism resources we are using ourselves to learn more about this important civil rights movement.

Donate/Support

Anti-Racism Resources

Love and Support,
Boston Balboa