Vivo Performing Arts Returns to The Greenway for Let's Dance Boston
Five free nights of dance lessons, live music, and community celebration
enliven Dewey Square Park, September 23-27
For Immediate Release—August 3, 2026—Vivo Performing Arts brings its popular Let's Dance Boston community dance celebration back to Dewey Square Park on the Rose Kennedy Greenway, September 23-27, 2026. The free five-night festival brings together live music, professional dance instruction, and social dancing in an outdoor celebration.
Each evening begins with a free 45-minute dance lesson led by local instructors, followed by 90 minutes of live music and open social dancing. Whether participants are experienced dancers or stepping onto the dance floor for the first time, Let's Dance Boston is designed for everyone.
“One of the things that attracted me to Vivo Performing Arts was the opportunity to be part of programs like Let's Dance Boston,” says Thor Steingraber, President and CEO. “Whether it's thousands of people dancing together outdoors, a Neighborhood Arts performance, or a workshop with local artists, these shared experiences create connections across generations, cultures, and neighborhoods. That's what Let's Dance Boston is all about.”
More than a dance festival, Let's Dance Boston celebrates Greater Boston by inviting people from every neighborhood and every generation to participate. Professional instruction, outstanding live bands, and one of the city's most iconic public spaces combine to create a unique arts experience that is completely free and accessible to all.
"When parks are filled with music, movement, and people sharing an experience together, they become something more than green space—they become places where community comes to life," says Eileen Ong, Director of Programs and Outreach at the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy. "We're excited to welcome Let's Dance Boston back to Dewey Square Park and invite people to experience The Greenway in a joyful and memorable way."
No partner, special clothing or shoes, or previous dance experience is required at Let’s Dance Boston; just a willingness to have fun! For refreshments, Night Shift on The Greenway will remain open until 8pm Wednesday through Friday.
Let's Dance Boston features five evenings celebrating dance traditions from around the world:
Wednesday, September 23 at 6pm: Salsa
Instructor: Johnny Giraldo from the Salsa Y Control Studio
Band: Angel Subero and the Latin Logic
When the claves and the cowbells set the beat, and the horns join in, you won’t be able to resist joining the fun! Let’s Dance Boston steps off with an evening of energetic, percussion-forward live salsa music while you dance the night away on the Rose Kennedy Greenway!
A 2020 research paper showed what dancers have known for decades: salsa dance parties offer a special moment of fun and escapism from everyday life. Johnny Giraldo from Allston’s Salsa y Control studio leads a dance lesson before Angel Subero & Latin Logic take the stage while you dance the night away!
Thursday, September 24 at 6pm: Latin & Afro-Caribbean
Instructor: Evens Joseph and Mela Bradbury from EJ Dance Studio
Band: El Grupo Chevere
From Haiti to Cuba to the Dominican Republic and beyond: experience music and dance styles from across the Caribbean!
Sample Kompa, Merengue, Bachata, and more, and feel how rhythms and dance moves are shared across cultures, and what makes each style its own unique expression.
Your tour guides for this vibrant journey are Evens Joseph and Mela Bradbury of Brockton’s EJ Dance Studio, known for extending a warm welcome to new and experienced dancers alike. Boston’s versatile Latin band El Grupo Chevere will keep the energy high and your pulse pounding all night.
Friday, September 25 at 6pm: Hustle
Instructors: Khris Henry and Brielle Fowlkes from Arthur Murray Dance Studio
Band: BEANTOWN
Put on your boogie shoes and get ready to burn, baby, burn when Let’s Dance Boston goes back to the Disco era with this fun-filled evening of live music and Hustle dancing. From the moment the celebration begins until the last dance, you’ll be caught up in the fun. Bring a group of friends and shake your groove thing to a set of iconic party anthems: this will be an evening of fun that will remind you what stayin’ alive is all about.
Instructors Khris Henry and Brielle Fowlkes lead a lesson in Arthur Murray Studio’s beginner-friendly Hustle, perfect for aspiring dancing queens and macho men of all skill levels. Then, hit the dance floor as BEANTOWN take the stage with a high-energy set of disco classics and party hits that will put your new Hustle moves to the test.
Saturday, September 26 at 6pm: Lindy Hop
Instructors: Katie and Paolo Piselli
Band: Dan Gabel Big Band
Don’t miss an exhilarating evening of fast-paced music and lively dance when Let’s Dance Boston presents Lindy Hop! All are welcome, whether you’re here for the easy-to-learn basics, or you’re an experienced dancer up for the most challenging lifts and swings.
Lindy Hop has been described as “a love affair, between you and your partner and the music.” Be part of an exuberant expression of collective joy and energy from dancers and musicians alike.
Your instructors will be Boston-based Lindy Hop dancers and instructors Katie and Paolo Piselli. Dan Gabel Big Band, hailed as “the real deal...[a band] that looks and sounds just like the 1940s” (The Boston Globe), provides the music that will keep the party hopping all night.
Sunday, September 27 at 3pm: Soul Line Dancing
Instructor: Angie Dickerson from the Boston Rhythm Riders
Band: East Coast Soul
You’re invited to celebrate togetherness, wellness, and connection with an afternoon of Soul Line Dancing. With roots in family celebrations—generations of weddings, family reunions, and more—it’s a party for all ages and ability levels!
For health and fitness, for connection, or just for fun, you’ll love Soul Line Dancing. If you know the Electric Slide, the Cupid Shuffle, or the Cha Cha Slide, you’re halfway there!
Angie Dickerson of Boston Rhythm Riders leads the lesson, and the East Coast Soul band puts their own spin on funk, hip hop, soul, and R&B classics and new favorites alike!
About Let's Dance Boston
Since its debut in 2015, Let's Dance Boston has drawn thousands of participants and become one of Boston's signature free community arts events. Previous festivals have demonstrated the power of music and movement to transform public spaces into places of connection, celebration, and belonging.
Let’s Dance Boston was previously presented in 2022, 2017 and 2015. It is one of many free public performance projects produced by Vivo Performing Arts (formerly Celebrity Series of Boston). Additional previous events have included: Concert for One (2019), which brought more than 5,000 mini-concerts by local musicians to Cambridge and Boston; Jazz Along the Charles (2023 and 2018); Street Pianos Boston (2016 and 2013), which placed dozens of pianos around Boston for experts and amateurs alike to play; and Le Grand Continental (2014), featuring choreography performed by everyday citizens from 25 Massachusetts cities and towns.
Complete schedules, instructors, musicians, and event details may be found at vivoperformingarts.org. Sign up for reminders so you'll get helpful updates and information on daily refreshments and amenities—but no RSVP needed, just show up and dance!
PRESENTING SPONSORS
Leslie & Howard Appleby
Susanne Marcus Collins Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts
$10,000 SUPPORTER
Eleanor & Frank Pao
ABOUT VIVO PERFORMING ARTS
Vivo Performing Arts (formerly Celebrity Series of Boston) was founded in 1938 and, for generations, has welcomed Boston audiences to an array of outstanding performances. Vivo Performing Arts offers national and international talent in orchestral and chamber music, vocal and piano artistry, dance, and jazz in the city’s major concert venues as well as excellent Boston-based and -affiliated artists in its free Neighborhood Arts series and public performance projects. Guided by its values of equity, integrity, and collaboration, and its belief in the performing arts as a source of curiosity and joy, Vivo Performing Arts partners with artists, audiences, and neighborhoods to create experiences that strengthen connection and invite discovery. Through all of its ticketed and free offerings, the organization builds a Greater Boston where the performing arts are a valued, lifelong, and shared experience—on stages, on streets, and in neighborhoods throughout the region.
Vivo Performing Arts is grateful to 2026/27 Season Sponsors Crescendo Donor Advised Fund and The Thonis Family, and to the many individuals, corporations, foundations, and government agencies whose support helps fulfill our mission to enrich and inspire our community through exceptional live performances. Individual and institutional supporters include Jill & David Altshuler, Leslie & Howard Appleby, Keith Backman in memory of Dr. Ulla M. Hansen, the Barr Foundation, Amy & Joshua Boger, Crescendo Donor Advised Fund, Google, Yvette & Lawrence Hochberg, Barbara & Amos Hostetter, Klarman Family Foundation, Lizbeth & George Krupp, Liberty Mutual Foundation, Nancy & Richard Lubin, Richard K. Lubin Family Foundation, Susanne Marcus Collins Foundation, Mass Cultural Council, Eleanor & Frank Pao, Stephen C. Perry & Oliver Radford, Rabb Family Foundations, Reuben Reynolds, Royal Little Family Foundation, Schraff Charitable Trust, Sally S. Seaver, PhD, Samuel & Gretchen Shubrooks, Jeremy Silverman & Mary Sutherland, The Estate of Marylen Sternweiler, Lawrence T. Stifler & Mary McFadden in honor of Gary Dunning, Belinda Termeer, The Thonis Family, Dorothy Altman Weber in memory of Stephen Weber, Nancy Richmond Winsten, Anonymous (4), and many others.
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