Teens Tune In to Swing

Ventura doesn’t have a monopoly on swing coolness. Students at Santa Susana High School in Simi Valley can make a pretty good claim of their own.

Music students at the performing arts and technology magnet school will play the big-band sounds of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Artie Shaw and Glenn Miller at a “1940s USO Night” benefit Friday and Saturday at the Masonic Temple in Simi Valley.

Proceeds will help fund a trip by music students to a band festival in Hawaii at the beginning of next year.

Anne Frankel, an instructor at the high school, selected the lively swing theme for the program.

“We have a swing club here. The students have just embraced the dance,” Frankel said. “They work real hard to learn the moves. They are full of vitality. At our school, East Coast swing is very popular with all the twists and turns.”

Frankel’s son, Geoff, a sophomore, likes those twists and turns as much as anyone. But he’s the first to admit he’s not the most coordinated dancer. Geoff, a 15-year-old band member, gets in his swinging through the music he plays on the tuba and baritone sax.

“I like listening to the beat, I start tapping my foot, tapping my fingers,” he said. “It just creates an atmosphere that’s unequaled. It’s nice having an upbeat tempo. It gets you off your seat, jumping around.”

In keeping with the theme, USO nights will include re-creations of 1940s radio shows and impersonations of Burns and Allen and Betty Boop.

* “1940s USO Night” runs from 7-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Masonic Temple, 1541 Patricia St., Simi Valley. Tickets are $12 at the door, $10 advance. (805) 532-0619.