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.  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 when wastewater COVID levels indicate risk. Please see our COVID safety page for more detailed information and the wastewater data link.

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What’s happening around Boston?

Coming up at Boston Balboa:

Balboa Fundamentals 1A & 1B – Intro to Balboa for beginners! Starts Sept 15

Dance Complex is closed the first 2 Tuesdays of September, so our beginner series will start September 15.  The 8-week series of Fundamentals 1A then 1B will run until the first Tuesday of November.  Tell your friends, or come brush up your basics!
 
 
 

Continuing Balboa classes in November, December, and January

Fundamentals 1B will wrap the first Tuesday in November, so Continuing Balboa classes will fire up starting November 10.  We’re working on topics now, so stay tuned to the Classes page for updates!  We’ll be traveling for some weeks in December and January, so we may need to cancel a handful of Tuesdays, but we’re working on those details too, and should have more to share soon.

 

TinkerBal is SOON, and Waitlist is STILL OPEN

TinkerBal 2026 will run November 7-8, 2026, with Annabel Quisao, Bobby White, Heather Ballew, and Sylvia Sykes!
 
The Saturday Night Shuffle dance is open to EVERYONE, so come dance with us!  And the weekend will wrap up with a BalFranco’s social at Franco’s Pizzeria and Pub, also open to EVERYONE! 
 
AND, the TinkerBal WAITLIST is still open, and it is SHORTER THAN USUAL.  There’s already been considerable waitlist activity, and there’s always more as we get closer to the weekend, so if you want to give it a shot, get yourself on that waitlist right now, at the TinkerBal website’s Registration Page!

 

K-BAL at K-BOK – November 15

We all need more joy in our lives, and what could be more joy than dancing Balboa and eating Korean food at K-BOK!  The DFKAS (Dance Formerly Known As Speakeasy) is always a great time, and the early evening timeslot means our new-parent pals can bring the kids along and still maybe squeeze in a couple dances!  
 
Sunday November 15, 5:30-8:00pm
Union Square, Somerville
 

Next Balboa on a Sunday Afternoon practice – November 15, 2026!

The next BoaSA practice is November 15 at Mango from 3-5pm!  Come on out to dance & practice – ESPECIALLY if you learned stuff at TinkerBal! Then come to K-BAL at K-BOK immediately afterward for social dancing plus delicious snax and drinks!
 
We’ll provide a friendly space to practice your Balboa. We’ll start with some guided exercises to warm up and then the floor is open to work on your own stuff.
 
Have something in particular that you’d like to work on? Let us know! Have something interesting you’ve learned recently or been playing with? Come and share! We’ll play music, and July and Stan (and probably others) will be available to facilitate.
 
 

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