Charlottetown Rural High School Popular Music Performance Class of 2026: Dancing While the World Shifts

The Charlottetown Rural High School Popular Music Performance (PMP)Class of 2026 will present its final concert, Dancing While the World Shifts, on June 5 at 7 pm at the PEI Brewing Company in Charlottetown. The concert will transport audiences back to the neon-coloured 1980s, touching on the cultural and social issues of the era while drawing parallels to issues still being faced today.

Andrew Waite has taught the PMP course at Charlottetown Rural for the past three years and has inspired hundreds of students to pursue a high level of musicianship. In many ways, this performance serves as the course’s final exam, showcasing months of hard work and dedication by the students. Its goal is to demonstrate how talented young musicians come together to collaborate in the organization, rehearsal, and execution of a professional-level show. 

Arts and culture in the 1980s were known for vibrant colours, political turmoil, and booming tech industries. MTV had just launched in 1981, the Cold War was nearing its end, veterans were returning home to little support from the governments they fought for, and AIDS had become an uncontrollable epidemic. The world today still experiences some of the effects of the 1980s, and many current events continue to parallel those of the era. With MTV recently ending, countries still at war, and COVID-19 fresh in the rear-view mirror, the current generation can relate in many ways to the generation of the 1980s.

The ability to play music as an academic course is a dream come true to many students at Charlottetown Rural, and they look forward to sharing their efforts with the PEI community. Sherwood Elementary’s school rock band will open the show with an eighties number of their own.

Doors open at 6:30 pm. Tickets will be available online and at the door on the night of the event, subject to seating and standing-room availability.