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speakup

A lot of toe tapping, hand clapping and foot stomping is expected later this spring at Bathurst High School.

Four cast members of the hit Broadway musical Stomp will visit in late May and mid-June to show students a few moves.

"It isn't actually the entire Stomp musical that is coming," said School District 15 superintendent John McLaughlin. "There is a small number of their cast members who will be here this spring to teach some routines to our kids and to perform with them at a major event we are planning for the end of June."

Mr. McLaughlin said the cast members will visit the last weekend of May to conduct a workshop with a group of BHS students. The Stomp crew will return June 15 to help the students perfect the moves and join them in a year-end show.

"They will perform with our kids at a special event we're planning for June 15," said Mr. McLaughlin. "It's an event we've put together to kind of kick off Graduation Week on a hopeful and encouraging note because we realize there's a lot to be sad about this year.

"We want to create the right chemistry where we acknowledge the loss that the community and the school have experienced and at the same time to celebrate the achievements of our graduates."

On Jan. 12, even members of the BHS boys basketball team and one local elementary school teacher were killed while returning home from a game in Moncton. Support from the community and from around the world has poured in since that tragedy and Mr. McLaughlin said the cast of Stomp wanted to do the same.

"Four of the...New York cast offered to come at their own expense to work with our kids on this. We just think that's a wonderful gesture.

"It came about because we were trying to think about different ways that we could create that event in June that's going to be hopeful and encouraging. I've seen Stomp a few times and they are the most enthusiastic, encouraging, hopeful group that I've ever seen. I had just sent an email off to them and I had a response...from the founder of Stomp...and this is what he suggested."

The "Stomp" musical involves rhythmic sounds produced by ordinary household items such as trash cans, brooms and mops. Many of the beats in Stomp were influenced by stepping, a dance-like movement creating rhythms by clapping, stomping and hitting different parts of the body.

Mr. McLaughlin said students at BHS have been told about the Stomp group coming to the school and have been encouraged to participate. He said a group of about 15 to 20 students will likely work with the crew.

"We just putting out a general call to students to see if they are interested in this...We'll select a group of students from those who are interested and we think we can handle 15 to 20 students.

Mr. McLaughlin added that other opportunities will be available for students who want to participate in the year-end show.

"We have a committee that's working on that now...Basically, it's matching up our students in small groups with people who have expertise in a particular part of the arts such as Stomp...Students who have an interest in that will work with the cast members from Stomp who will mentor them in that field.," he explained.

We're also looking at bringing in some professional writers and other people from the arts to do these mentoring roles. Then the kids will perform what they produced in working with these professionals," he concluded.