Swing music and dance is a staple of American culture. Deriving from African American jazz, swing music took over nightclubs all across the country in the 1920s. On Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025, the Berkeley High School Jazz and Dance Programs transformed the BHS Jacket gym into a time machine that took students, staff, and other community members back to this time for an iconic Swing Night.
It started with a dance lesson from swing experts Amanda Langworthy and Jack Pacific. Langworthy and Pacific began by giving the attendees a dance demonstration. Pacific noted in this introduction that the both of them primarily danced to contemporary music which is why it was special to be able to dance to a live jazz band.
Langworthy and Pacific first split the group into two parts: leaders and followers. Leaders suggest a movement to their followers. The followers take this suggestion and execute the movement. Over the course of the next hour, Langworthy and Pacific taught four of the five basic shapes in West Coast swing: the sugar push, left side pass, sugar tuck, and right side pass.
After the lessons, the beginning jazz band commonly referred to as the 10 o’clock band started their performance. Each of the bands played for about 20 minutes throughout the night, allowing members of the other bands to enjoy themselves with the attendees. During the 11 o’clock intermediate band’s performance, Ernst Wang, a BHS junior, performed a stunning solo of the classic song “Fly Me to the Moon.” Another notable moment of the night was the intermediate two o’clock band performance of “In the Mood” by Glen Miller’s Orchestra.
The Jacket gym was filled with student dancers, parents, and friends of those performing. The bands played classics from the swing era which created an atmosphere that encouraged dancing and fun without judgement.
Sarah Cline, a BHS jazz teacher, talked about Swing Night in regards to students learning about jazz music and history.
“It was like an iconic dance in a high school gym, just because you can kind of feel the history of that. During the 1930s there would have been people dancing to this exact music in their high school journey,” Cline said.
Cline also explained that Swing Night happened to coincide with her unit about big band jazz, which swing music and dance was based upon.
“They got to actually experience playing the music exactly when we were studying it, but also what it would have looked like and felt like a little bit to be there at the time. It was almost like a living history lesson,” Cline said.
Regardless if participants were there for the music or the dancing, all were exposed to a unique experience that took the BHS community by storm.
“My experience at Swing Night was interesting. The music was good and the dance lessons were definitely something I’ve never thought I’d do,” Alice Cronemeyer, a BHS freshman, recalled.
BHS’ Jazz and Dance Programs will continue to organize events like Swing Night in the future. A similar event, Salsa Night, will take place on Friday May 1, 2026.