New School Swing

Had a very good experience here. The space is great, there’s parking, and the instructors are smart, nerds really, who have clearly thought this stuff through from both a physics and pedagogical perspective and seem to be continually working to improve their teaching. After class they have a free dance practice session where they play music and you can get one-​on-​one attention from instructors, who wear orange shirts to differentiate them from the crowd.
The only better swing dance teaching I have experienced over the years is from a guy named Ken Kreshtool, in the late 90s. He taught in Harvard Square, in the church that now houses the Jose Mateo studio, but moved to NYC for grad school and never came back.
I have a secret wish to attend a swing dance with music that is entirely non-​swing and funky, like 80s Prince or disco. As long as it had the right number of beats per minute it seems like it’d be OK. I asked one of the instructors if they would ever consider doing that, and he said that that kind of music wouldn’t have the swing beats and that that’s important when teaching people to dance swing. So this is just one example of how they’ve thought this stuff through. Too bad though. Swing music is great to dance to, but so are DMSR and Erotic City. One instructor did say that I had a little too much of the salsa hips going on — I guess I just like to shake my bootay.

The best place to take authentic Lindy Hop Swing dancing lessons for beginners. Their approach is excellent for anyone new to the dance, since they focus on teaching the base moves that make up the vocabulary for social dancing.
Their curriculum is a good road map to learn all the moves and techniques necessary to enjoy your dancing and know when you are ready to take more advanced classes.
I took my first lesson a year ago, and I haven’t stopped dancing since.
I had taken other dance lessons at other places but they seemed to assume that you already knew a lot and just taught moves that seem simple for other students who had attended for longer; In New School of Swing, this does not happen, their beginner lesson series starts from zero and builds up from there, even if there are more experienced dancers in the class.
There is no partner necessary since they rotate partners all throughout the class and the teachers are always friendly and enthusiastic.
If you have been curious about learning swing dancing, wait no more, go try it out!

Awesome prices, awesome teachers, great community of folks, and plenty of opportunities to practice once you start learning!

Moved to Boston from Orange County in March 2013, and I wasn’t hopeful that I could find a swing studio that could compete with Atomic Ballroom in Irvine. This place is great! Once you’ve taken the beginner classes, you can do month long series classes 2 – 3 days per week for a very reasonable price, and after class you can continue to practice at Dojo. At Dojo the instructors stick around and will dance with you and give you advice. You can also just practice with your classmates. If you want to improve quickly, classes+Dojo+social dancing at MIT (Wednesdays) and the Whistle Stop (Fridays) is the way to do it. I’ve seen people who started after me get all the basic moves down in just 2 – 3 months. In summary: Great studio with great instructors and a great setup for people who want to learn to dance in a friendly and comfortable environment.

My fiancée and I were new to swing and wanted to learn some moves for our first dance at our wedding. Amanda and Chris taught us, and within six lessons we learned enough to thrill the socks off of our guests– it turned out to be one of the most memorable things that day, definitely the most Rock’n! Amanda and Chris are pros with a lot of experience, and they’ve got wit and charm to boot.

Nice people. Good teachers. Watertown as a location sucks.

From their website:
«It’s All Swing! dance studio is dedicated to preserving and spreading the spirit of swing dancing in the greater Boston area. We specialize in Lindy Hop — the original American swing dance made popular in the 1930’s & 1940’s and danced to the big band music of such greats as Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Glenn Miller, and Count Basie. It’s All Swing! offers a full range of classes, workshops, and dances geared toward all levels, from the very beginner to the experienced dancer. We also provide dance instruction, performances, and DJ services for corporate events, as well as private parties and weddings.»
The instructors at It’s All Swing! are well known dancers, competitors and DJ’s in the local Lindy hop, Balboa, and Blues dancing world. Some have been dancing since childhood, and some have come to it recently, but all have a passion for these dances that they communicate well. Their classes are fun and not too big or expensive. I have taken several classes with this group and have learned a lot each time. One great sign is that the instructors are happy to dance with their students at social dances. This really helps you get into the social scene and feel accepted.
Their classes are held in a VFW in Watertown. There is off-​street parking.