A trio of Okotoks talent will put on a unique spring spectacle at the Okotoks United Church on May 28.
The Okotoks Men’s Chorus (OMC) is hosting an evening of music and dance for its annual Spring Concert and it is calling on the talents of special guests including the Dr. Morris Gibson School Grade 4 to 6 choir and the Alberta Dance Academy for some help.
“One of our accompanists had heard about the Morris Gibson choir and the quality of it,” said OMC director Tim Korthuis. “They’ve gone around in different festivals and they came highly recommended. They’ve won awards as well. Then with Alberta Dance Academy, my daughters go there. Any time I’ve gone to the recitals at the end of the year the performances from all the classes are always great. It’s always been in my mind to combine the two different art forms (song and dance).”
At the Spring Concert the dance troupe will have about 20 of its members involved in the show as they will also accompany the choir on stage. There will also be performances by the dancers including solo performances from senior dancers Heather Allison and Emily McKay.
Alberta Dance Academy director Erica Harding said the form of choreography on display Saturday night is custom tailored to enhance the mood and message of a song.
“The official genre or style is called lyrical,” she said. “What you do is you take both ballet and jazz technique and you combine them. You’re actually emoting the lyrics of the songs in your dancing. So you take the words and the words really drive the choreography.”
The Dr. Morris Gibson choir performances will not feature the OMC or Alberta Dance Academy, but the singers will be accompanied on some songs by the school’s xylophone club. Taylor Hinton-Turik, a Grade 5 student, plays contra bass xylophone with the club and sings with the choir. She said she loves the emotional rollercoaster ride of performing live.
“It’s really fun when you get into concerts and contests,” she said. “Last year we went into the High River festival and it was so much fun. Sometimes you get butterflies and stuff like that but at the end everybody claps and it’s a really nice feeling.”
The Dr. Morris Gibson School choir was unable to perform at the High River and District Lion’s Music Festival this year even though they took top honours in their category last year. The current edition of the choir exceeded the 85-member limit imposed by the local talent showcase. As an alternative to festival the choir put on it’s own well-received concert in April and is participating in OMC’s Spring Concert
Ironically, choir director Bonnie Kentch said the choral group will not be at full strength for Saturday’s show.
“We won’t have a full house of singers,” she said. “It is a Saturday night which it makes it tough to get all our elementary school students out. So we won’t have a full choir but we’ll be big enough to seize the opportunity and show what we can do.”
One show pleasing number the audience can expect from the choir is the 1960s doo-wop hit “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”.
The Okotoks Men’s Chorus will be singing a combination of traditional spiritual songs like “Sing Low Sweet Chariot” as well as some pop numbers including Josh Groban’s “You Raise Me Up”.
The Spring Concert goes at 7 p.m. Saturday May 28 at the Okotoks United Church on Riverside Drive. Tickets are available at the door and are $15 for adults and $12 for students and seniors.
