It will be the best night and you’ll never forget how they moved.
About 30 young performers from across the West Coast are set to sing and dance away any bad blood between Swifties and non-Swifties this weekend.
The Tofino - Ucluelet Glee Kids will be rocking the Ucluelet Community Centre’s main stage for two performances of ‘In My Diva Era’ on Dec. 13 and 14.
Doors open at 6 p.m. with performances at 6:30 on both nights. Tickets are available at Image West Gallery in Ucluelet and Gaia Grocery in Tofino and will also be available at the door.
The Glee program’s co-founder and director Courtney Johnson told the Westerly News that the Taylor Swift theme was chosen to celebrate the uber-popular artist being in Vancouver the weekend prior as well as her birthday on Dec. 13.
“I have a lot of students that are Swifties, but I also have some that aren’t,” Johnson said.
She said the original script’s plot revolves around both groups showing each other why they like the music that they do and added that while she looked over the script, the story isn’t hers as the performers put this one together themselves.
“The thing about this play is that this is the first one I’ve done where I’ve had an outline and a theme and an idea, but the students wrote the script,” she said. “They’re the ones that have told me why they like Taylor Swift or what their favourite songs are and the songs they like to perform, or why they like other artists and why they want to perform those songs…Under my guidance, they picked the songs, they’ve come up with the plotline and they’ve taught each other dance moves. It looks really amazing.”
She added that her students collaborated on the choreography and selected songs and solos “they really love.”
“I was blown away by how serious they took it and how professional they are in their growing minds,” she said. “It’s very personal to them. It’s really amazing to have seen this come together.”
Johnson launched Ucluelet’s Glee program in 2012 alongside collaborator Sarah Hogan and Tofino joined the thetrical fray during the COVID-19 pandemic when the program stayed alive through music videos while public gatherings were nixed.
“I think that musical theatre in under-represented in this town; performing arts is under-represented,” Johnson said. “And I thought, well obviously it’s going to be the same way in Tofino and it turns out that it was.”
She noted schools in both communities offer musical education, but the Glee program provides a vital supplement to those efforts and she enjoys hearing feedback from fans and spectators who experience a vibe unlike any other.
“It’s not really like anything that you’ve seen,” she said, “I don’t know what it is that people expect, but it’s a very unusual and different experience and it’s all original.”
She suggested the West Coast’s eclectic and passionate population leads to a solid flow of unique and expressive kids.
“People that thrive out here are made out of a certain stuff,” she said. “I think the resilience of living on the West Coast and the beauty of the West Coast makes it a very magical place. It takes a certain kind of person to keep on and really dig your feet into the soil and plant roots here and I think that that comes through in our children…The children out here and the people out here are just something different. I am surprised all the time and blown away by what I get to do.”
She added that she herself fell in love with the Coast at first sight.
“I came out here once for a camping vacation and the next time I came out it was to live here. I just knew that this is where I was supposed to be and I came with the mindset in my head that I want to perform again. I want to sing. I want to do music in whatever capacity that is,” she said. “Whatever it is that feeds your soul, you can never run away from that thing. For me, it was music and I had to do it in whatever capacity. If you’re a painter, you’re going to be a painter. If you’re a photographer, a hockey player, a surfer, a runner, whatever it is, that is who you are.”
She explained her parents were incredibly supportive of her musical passions from a young age and she began learning the piano at 3 years old, followed by singing lessons at 5 and dancing at 6.
“It became a part of me. If you are bitten by that performing arts or musical bug, that stays with you forever and I can’t think of a better thing to do then pass it on,” she said. “It’s part of who I am and, if you have that passion inside of you, I think that you have a responsibility and an obligation to share it with the world.”
Johnson’s daughter tragically passed away 30 days prior to the program’s first-ever performance and Johnson said teaching her students got her through the pain.
“The truth was that they were so healing for me that I had to keep going,” she said. “Not every kid is going to be the sports hero. Not every kid is going to be an academia star. I offer something for everybody. No kid is going to feel alone again.”
She added that the program helps local youth build confidence and find their spark.
“I think that it’s absolutely important to help children find their place. Glee is like Toastmasters for kids. It builds confidence. Even if they don’t continue on, they might do one session and find it’s not for them, but they take something from it. You take something with you when you leave that class,” she said,
She said she and Glee have been blessed with a myriad of support from the West Coast communities.
“I have an army of community members that help me,” she said. “It was my idea, but the truth is I’m just a wheel in a system that keeps programs like this going…There’s so many people that come together to make these things go. If that isn’t the definition of community, I have no idea what is.”
She hopes to see large crowds show up this weekend to cheer on the young performers.
“It’s a community event. Kids are part of your community and they deserve to be supported,” she said.
