Students and everyone else who attends the Brookswood Secondary Swing Night will get a lesson in the power of live music.
The eighth annual Swing Night is June 10.
“The coolest part for the students is that they get to perform live music while their peers dance,” said BSS music director Derrick Turi. “Playing music for people is already a great feeling, but to watch people dance and absolutely enjoy themselves from the music you are making, it is a feeling like none other and really is only understood by those who get the privilege to experience it.”
Each year about 250 people attend Swing Night, which includes food and drink, necessary because of the packed evening of calorie burning on offer.
The doors open at 6 p.m. and the music starts non-stop. The BSS concert bands warm up the crowd.
The evening features dance lessons for those who want to learn or brush up on their moves.
Fat City Swing comes in and they both DJ and teach the swing dance lesson, Turi explained. They keep the swing music going all night when the jazz bands aren’t playing. They also teach and demonstrate various swing dance moves during the lesson from 7 to 8 p.m.
Then the junior and senior bands play until about 10:30 p.m.
There’s also a silent auction to help the bottom line.
Really it depends from year to year as it is the students who bring in the donated items, Turi said. But there are always big and small items and everything in between. They come from local businesses as well as parents who go out and purchase items for the auction.
“Donations for our silent auction are accepted from anyone willing to help us out,” he said. “If anyone would like to donate something we are more then happy to accept it.”
Advance tickets cost $8 for students (must show ID at the door) and $10 for adults. They can be had by contacting the school. Tickets at the door cost $12.
Anyone is welcome and expect to see no lack of students with their dancing shoes on.
“It is one of the most looked forward to events and is one of our premier music events. The students love swing night,” Turi said. “Many students who aren’t even in the music program keep asking when Swing Night is as they also love to come and dance and watch the live music.”
The evening is a fundraiser for the school.
“In addition to the great support we get from PAC and adminstration, this is a way the students help contribute to a program they enjoy,” he said.
Running a music program requires a great deal of funding to be able to provide the equipment needed for success.
“This extra fundraised money supplements the cost of maintaining our equipment and repairing our instruments so the students can fully benefit from what we offer,” Turi added. “After the main repairs and maintenance, if there is anything left over then maybe we can treat ourselves to some new music or something on our wish list.”