“Can’t-sit-still sounds” was what The Children’s Showcase promised for At The Mardi Gras.
They weren’t wrong, going by the reactions of the children to the 1920s and 30s jazz performed by Tim Sars and Tiny Islands.
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Sars has over a decade’s experience entertaining and engaging kids and their families with fun music. At the Mardi Gras features tunes by legends like Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway and Fats Waller.
“The music performed by Tiny Islands is absolutely infectious,” said Children’s Showcase organizer Melanie Walden. “It’s so great to see kids and their parents, and often grandparents too, up dancing and connecting with each other through this fantastic music.”
“We’ve been playing together for a really long time, like over ten years but this particular show has been going on for just about a year now,” Sars told the children during the short question period that followed an hour of energetic music and dancing. The kids also wanted to know about the instruments.
“I’ve been playing the baritone saxophone, the alto saxophone and the baby saxophone. It’s also called the soprano saxophone, it’s the whiniest of all the saxophones,” said Sars. “I think most of our instruments are secondhand because they’re really, really old. That saxophone there is from 1926 and Winston mentioned his bass is 100 years old.”
Related: Sounds of Mardis Gras to fill Children’s Showcase in Penticton
Children’s Showcase returns on March 4 with Robinson Crusoe and Friday, a comic retelling of the classic tale by Axis Theatre, showing the importance of cultural differences and empathy.
Tickets are available in advance at Tumbleweed Gallery, Penticton Arts Council office, the Oliver Veterinary Hospital on online at Eventbrite. Tickets will also be available at the door. For more information about Children’s Showcase, call 250-492-7997.
