Amber Neitz and her classmates at the MacEwan Arts and Cultural Management Program are too young to remember when the sounds of big bands reverberated through Edmonton dance halls of the 1940s.
But when they got the chance to organize “Blatchford Boogie Woogie” at the Alberta Aviation Museum’s historic Hangar 14 they jumped at the chance.
“The aviation museum event was definitely the top pick,” says Neitz. She was given a choice of several community events she could work on as part of a major class project.
Neitz, along with classmates Amanda Park, Kerrie Sanderson and Sam Watterworth took on planning this event, right down to coming up with the name.
“A 1940s dance sounds so cool,” she says. “We are in the Arts Building at MacEwan and a lot of our students are very much interested in this kind of stuff.”
The project started with researching the period and finding out what life was like in Edmonton in the 1940s.
“We knew we wanted swing dancers. We wanted the 19-piece big band. That’s a big attraction. You don’t see that anywhere really. And then little things that we are going to keep era-specific. We’re going to have a photo booth and it will be black and white.”
AAM Marketing Manager Zena Conlin is hoping the idea will be a bit hit.
“We have been talking about putting on a dance for a couple of years. But we needed help to organize it. Now with the help of the MacEwan Arts and Cultural Management Program it’s going to become a reality.”
Blatchford Boogie Woogie is April 7, from 7pm to 1am. Dance to the unique sounds of the C-Jam Big Band. Marvel at the dance moves of the Sugar Swing Dance Club. Tickets are $35 and are available at the museum or online here. More information about the event can be found here.
Take a step back in time to the 1940s and get “In The Mood” of the big band dance craze. This is an event you won’t want to miss.