Twist 'n Shout

A few weeks ago Alvin and I were able to attend the Twist 'n Shout Concert in Spanish Fork. What is Twist 'n Shout you might ask?

Well, to boil it down to the basics, it is a singing and dance school based in Santaquin, Utah. Founded by Heather Hunt, an accomplished musician, singer and performer in her own right, she has slowly built the school up to where it is today.

That night began with the young girls, ages 4 to 8, singing songs from the Broadway musical "Annie." I had two nieces in that group. Was I beaming with pride? Oh yeah! The thing that was the neatest was those girls could really sing, actually, the entire group could sing. Even when they soloed they did a great job.

I coulda kicked myself for not taking my camera. I'm to new to having a digital camera and I still forget to take it with me. Still, my nieces were adorable. Every note was hit and every dance move was spot on.

Heather came in as Miss Hannigan in a great rendition of "Little Girls" and all in all, it was very delightful. I was impressed with the progress she'd made with these children. They projected well, sang on key and sounded good.

Next came the teenagers, both boys and girls, who sang selections from "High School Musical." My nephew was a part of this group. He, along with the other boys, did the basketball number from the movie. Yeah, I was really proud then too.

The leads were a brother and sister team, alternating with the brother singing with another teenage girl. All in all, it was enjoyable. The girls had phenomenal voices and it was clear Heather had worked well with the entire group in refining their performing techniques. I was pretty impressed she'd been able to convince teenage boys to sing and dance. Very impressed. It was obvious they liked the basketball number the best. Sadly, Heather lost most of her teens due to moving and graduation. I heard her mention that night that she needed more kids for that group.

Then it was on to the adults. Oh yeah, she has adult classes too. Men and women sang songs from "Guys 'n Dolls", which I absolutely love. "Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat" was great. How she got grown man to dance and sing, I'll never know. But they did a fantastic job. It was a fun night and I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

You know those moments when not having children really hit hard at times? Yeah, it was one of those moments. If I had children they'd have been signed up the next day. I was that impressed.

There was one thing I noticed. There is an autistic boy who comes to one of Heather's classes. He performed in some of the numbers and the rest of the time, Heather let him sit on the side of the stage. He knew every word and every note to every song performed that night. He sang his heart out. It touched my heart so deeply to see that boy's mother watching him with such pride and tears pouring down her face.

It was a wonderful night and I'm looking forward to the upcoming Christmas Concert. Yeah, you guessed it, I'll probably give her a call and join the adult class. I kinda fancy singing "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with my hubby. Yup, I'm going to make Alvin join too.

For anyone interested in having their children join Twist 'n Shout, it's very affordable. You can call Heather Hunt at 801-404-4731.