There is a dance jam going on at the Academy of Music Theatre in Northampton on Nov. 19.
But most of the action will be on stage, not in the aisles, where the Young@Heart Chorus will be singing alongside special guest dancers in a new show called “Twist and Crawl.”
The special afternoon performance is set for 3 p.m.
“I’m feeling great about what is going to be a truly high-energy show. It is such a departure for us to have the chorus singing some of their best numbers accompanied by really amazing dancers. Audiences will once again be treated to the wide variety of genres covered by Young@Heart,” said longtime director Bob Cilman.
Known for their unconventional covers of rock, punk and other modern pop music songs from Jimi Hendrix to The Rolling Stones and from Lizzo to Marvin Gaye, the Young@Heart Chorus will be performing songs on Sunday by The Band, Van Morrison, Macy Gray, Tito Puente, Rihanna, The English Beat, and many others.
Among the guest dancers – performing everything from tap to hip hop, modern to Irish step, cumbia to mambo and more – will be Hatchery Dance Company from the School of Contemporary Dance and Thought led by Jen Polins, tapper Sylvia Beckwith-Brown from Ascendance Dance Studio, 60′s dancing phenom Harley Foxx, Duffy Academy Irish Step Dancers under the direction of Alycia Duffy, hip hop dancers from Youthful Expressions dance studio, Springfield native Sade Murray who dances on Broadway, and Aracelis and Roshay, mother and son salsa dancers from Holyoke.
Bob Cilman, founder of the Young@Heart Chorus. (Julian Parker-Burns photo)
The chorus members will be backed by local musicians including Mark Gionfriddo on piano, Joe Boyle on guitar, Chris Haynes on accordion, JJ O’Connell on percussion, Jim Armenti on bass and Tom Mahnken on saxophone.
Last year, the chorus celebrated its 40th anniversary after being founded in 1982. Today, their oldest member is 95 years young. None of the founding members of Young@Heart Chorus are alive today – but the trail they blazed for all performers who followed them remains alive as ever, Cilman noted.
Chorus members, who hail from Hampshire, Hamden and Franklin counties, make it a truly regional group with a celebrated history as big as their ages. Over the years they have participated in 30 international tours, starred in a highly-acclaimed documentary film now showing on Hulu, worked with prison choruses that they founded, collaborated with some of the finest youth choruses in the country, enjoyed many performances with Springfield’s SciTech Band, and received a New England/Boston Emmy for their 40th anniversary concert film.
Retired registered nurse John Rinehart, 88, of Springfield, joined the Young@Heart Chorus in 2010.
“I was at the grocery story two weeks before Thanksgiving and ran into a fellow I knew, who told me he had joined the Young@Heart Chorus and he asked if I was retired. Coincidently, I ran into him at the same grocery store a year later and he asked me again if I was still working, but I told him I was now retired. So, he asked me if I would like to accompany him to one of their rehearsals and possibly audition,” Rinehart said.
Initially, Rinehart was hesitant about singing songs he had never heard before and wasn’t sure about joining the group. But, for someone who wanted and needed to stay active in his senior years, he knew joining the group would be good for him. He attended a second rehearsal and Cilman handed him two songs that he wanted Rinehart to learn. They were “I Want You Back” and “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson, and “the next thing I knew I was a chorus member,” Rinehart noted.
“One of the biggest pleasures of being a member of Young@Heart is it energizes me at my age, and another is the camaraderie with other chorus members who become like a second family to you,” Rinehart said, who has two solos in Sunday’s show.
“It’s different for us to be performing with so many young dancers as we sing while turning the dancing over to them. And to be in a show with these dancers makes me especially feel young again,” he added.
Tickets are $20 ($25.16 after fees), $35 ($41.42 after fees), and $50 ($57.90 after fees) and are available on the Academy of Music website or by calling 413-584-9032 ext.105.
To learn more about the Young@Heart Chorus and possibly auditioning for the group, visit the chorus’ website.
