Swing dance with live bands Friday Feb 26 at BHS (ON-015)

There’s a Swing Dance coming up this Friday, Feb 26th at 7pm at the Bainbridge High School Commons. And it’s a fun way to provide a fundraising benefit for the BHS band program.

In this podcast, BHS Radio Club member Finn Mander interviews Chris Thomas who is the Director of Bands at BHS.

As further described in this BCB podcast, there will be refreshments, two live jazz band performances (composed entirely of BHS students), and dance lessons provided by a professional, namely, popular local dance instructor Sheila Phillips.

Imagine going back to the 1920s to the “roaring twenties” and the “Swing Era.” They were jazz eras like no others. The Bainbridge High School band program is hosting this swing dance evening featuring music from those eras.

Swing dancing is a popular dance form that developed along with the jazz musical style of the same name between the 1920s and 1940s. The swing style is based on the focus of the off-beat, meaning that if there were four beats (1,2,3,4), it would focus on every second beat (1, TWO, 3, FOUR) rather than the first and third (ONE, 2, THREE, 4).

Instrumentally, the band is based on a strong low section including low brass such as Trombones, and rhythm sections such as Drums, Piano, and Auxiliary, and a featured melodic group made up of reed instruments such as Saxophones and Clarinets and high brass instruments such as Trumpets. Soloists almost always perform during these musical pieces and when they do, it is often improvised meaning that they are coming up with their solo as they are playing it, rather than reading off of music.

Swing music and big band music are incredibly fun to dance to, and if you’re not into dancing, it’s also fun to sit and listen to.

Tickets are available for $12.00 online at the BHS Band website, or at the door for $15.00. Students with ASB cards can purchase tickets for $8.00 online, or at the door for $10.00.

Credits: BCB host and audio editor: Finn Mander; BCB social media publisher: Barry Peters.