When the Weehawken High School Band needed help funding a trip to perform right on Main Street USA in Disney World, Weehawken resident and musical educator Kim Duncan was the right woman for the job.
The children’s performer, known as “Kimmy Schwimmy,” has three kids of her own in the high school and will bring her effervescent style of reinforcing preschool concepts to the Weehawken High School stage on Feb. 27.
With the help of high school students – who will be performing in the staged show – children ages 8 and younger will be happy to sing and dance along to Duncan’s signature tunes. But Duncan said her show will entertain more than just kids.
“We even pretend to be pirates and shake our booty.” – Kim Duncan
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The performers have rehearsed for the past two weeks, which Duncan said has been was well worth the time.
“This is a working-class community,” Duncan said. “So, I was happy to help raise the money.”
According to Duncan, this is the first year the band was asked to perform on Main Street USA in Disney World.
The show starts at 2 p.m., but doors open at 1:30 p.m., giving guests a chance to check out the bake sale and face painting booth. Tickets for the show are $5 and available through the high school. For more information call (201) 422-6132.
A musical curriculum
For Duncan, who studied voice and commercial music business at New York University and Georgia State University, teaching children through music was a natural progression.
“Music is a great way to teach children,” she said. “The beat keeps the children engaged – they don’t even realize they’re learning.”
Duncan specifically designed the show to keep children actively involved in the learning process.
“All of the motions are created to pull the children into doing the dances,” she said. “We go through tall grass, swim away from an alligator, climb up a tree. We even pretend to be pirates and shake our booty.”
On the world stage
But it wasn’t always about the kids. Duncan’s first band, The Radicals, performed all over the world, including in Budapest, Hungary, South Africa, and Paris and at venues like the Boston Garden, the Orpheum Theatre in Boston, and the Paramount Theatre at Madison Square Garden.
“I’m really an entertainer that found a niche in the preschool environment,” she said, “using my experience as a musician, and locking arms with people who are educators and behavioral specialists to pick their brains, and help our children.”
Duncan began with five schools and is now contracted in 11 schools around the New York New Jersey area. She works with in schools in West New York and Fort Lee, among others in New Jersey, as well as the Early Childhood Learning Center of New Jersey, which caters to special needs children.
She has two full-length CDs with upwards of 20 educational songs on each one and will release her third volume in March. Duncan said that her music can even be used at home, and is available through iTunes and Amazon.com.
Duncan and her family have been in Weehawken for the past six years and are happy to be part of the community. “I think the school system is a real treasure in Weehawken,” Duncan said.
The benefit will include an hour-long performance, a bake sale, and face painting. For more information visit www.kimmyschwimmy.com. Doors open at 1:30 p.m. Tickets are $5 and available through the High School or at the door.
Sean Allocca can be reached at editorial@hudsonreporter.com