Students between Grades 5 and 12 will keep people hopping at the 15th annual Swing Night at Brookswood Secondary.
The evening of music and dance will be Friday, May 30 at the school, 20902 37A Ave.
"This event is open to the community and is family friendly," said Derrick Turi, music director at Brookswood Secondary School. The evening will be hosted by RockStepSwing Dance Society, and this year's dance lessons will be the Boogie Woogie as well as a little bit of Latin.
Swing music isn't something most of the students would listen to day to day.
"They really love it," Turi noted "There's something about it that makes you different then when you listen to other kinds of music; it's so unique. It's obvious not a style most listen too regularly, but they are really taken to it when they hear how infectious and fun to play it can be. And this leads them to want more. I have seen many students over the years not wanting to join the jazz bands at first, but after they try it, they are hooked and wish they joined earlier."
Then when they perform it for others, they get to see the impact it has on dancers.
"They are very impressed with the really good swing dancers and that is very cool to see while you play the music. But what I think they are even more inspired by is when they see their peers and fellow classmates on the dance floor dancing to the music they are playing and cheering them on," he noted. "There is a feeling there, a 'musician's high' so to speak, that one can only get when playing live music to people that are thoroughly enjoying what you play. It is a one of a kind. And once you feel it, you want to do it again."
Doors will open at 6 p.m. and the night will have dancing, food, swing dance lessons, and live music from the school's award-winning jazz bands. There's a dance lesson at 7 p.m. followed by the dance. A concession keeps people fuelled up with beverages and treats, and there's a silent auction.
Swing and Latin music come from distinct musical eras which are touched on when the students are learning to play these genres. Turi said he tries to teach about the music in the broader social context. Swing, for instance, has strong ties to Black American culture, and civil rights.
"Sometime we watch the first part of Ken Burns' 'Jazz' series, and it really goes well into all the ingredients that went into the creation of this musical language," he said. "It is a very sobering look at all of the issues and the students appreciate the music and the history all the more when they understand its beginnings."
The Brookswood Music Department includes students from Grade 5 to 12 and has four concert bands (1st year band, 2nd year junior band, intermediate band and senior band), two jazz bands (junior and senior jazz), Musical Theater Orchestra, and Music Composition and Production.
"Our intermediate and senior concert bands and junior and senior jazz bands were all awarded gold at the recent Whistler Con Brio Music Festival," Turi noted.
Advance tickets will be $8 students and $12 adults while all tickets are $15 dollars at the door. For pre-sale ticket order forms, see the music department or school office.
