All aboard the Coach ride!

This years Summer Arts Festival was really low key compared to previous years, but I think it's been one of my favourites yet! Last night's finale was a celebration of the musical talents of our staff. It gave our students the opportunity to see some of their teachers in a different light, be inspired by the live performances and hopefully open their eyes to some different music.

Opening the night was Lost Ravine, a four piece band made up of Year 9 students who write all their own songs. Considering they're fairly new, they performed with confidence and skill and I think we'll be seeing a lot more of these! As George starting rocking out on a particularly tricky drum riff, I saw an older member of one of the other bands say, "Wow, they're actually really good!" I think he'll certainly be giving Mr Hutchings a run for his money...

Next up were Coach, who I admit I have a new music crush on. In fact, I'm listening to them as I write this and I think you should all enjoy a little taste of what you might have missed:

Our very own Miss Hedges played the clarinet and saxophone, and also sang some beautiful harmonies. The clarinet sounded wicked and I actually quite fancy learning it myself! This is the sort of band that makes you want to plan an event, just so you can book them. I urge you to catch them when you can and I'll try and keep you posted with their gigs. I heart Coach.

Next up was Lydia Twenty, also with their own compositions and featuring Mr Hutchings on the drums. Man, he's good! The man can play the drums! The band are quite popular with a lot of our other staff already but it was really nice to see the students enjoying them, and they even managed to get a mosh pit going! I wonder if that was a first...?

Finally, we had Mr Thomas and his band Dark Horse finish up the night with their mix of old and new covers. After opening up with the suitably chosen, Teenage Kicks, the crowds were entertained with the likes of Kings of Leon and Oasis. Mr Thomas and lead singer, Steve Stimson (Mrs Stimson's husband!), were a great duo who played off each other's energy on stage and really engaged the crowd.

A huge, HUGE thank you to all of the performers. I think I can safely say that everyone had a great night and it was wonderful to enjoy such a mix of live music. You all rock :O) Don't miss the photos on our flickr page and I'll upload some video clips after the Big Arts Day this weekend - we're running three of the performance areas, so keep an eye out for us and come and say hi!

An unusual variety of dance and commedia!

We had over 40 students perform last night for the dance evening. Forty! There were performances from the BFS Cheerleaders, GCSE Dance students, BFS Pom Dancers, Bradon Forest Theatre Commedia Troupe and special guests Gyi Dance. The Cheerleaders opened the show with their 4th place routine from the recent UKCA National Schools’ Cheerleading Championships. This was then followed by a highly entertaining and amusing piece by the BFS Commedia Troupe whose entire performance was created by the students themselves. I especially enjoyed the silhouette of the surgery scene!

The GCSE Dance students were up next with a selection of solo compositions, closely followed by the Pom Dancers who took to the floor suitably dressed in Halloween style costumes to performed their routine to Thriller/Heads Will Roll from Glee. Next up were the GCSE Dance students who performed a group dance based on The Lion King’s: He Lives In You.

Finally, GYI Dance ended the show with an interesting and creative performance based around carnivals. GYI Dance are choreographed by Hannah Guy, a specialist dance teacher who you may remember from previous posts, having worked with many of our students. We like Hannah we do.

Miss Pratten, our PE teacher who has worked with the GCSE and cheerleading groups, said:

"The evening was a great success as each student performed brilliantly and did themselves proud. The level of talent that was seen was outstanding and next year’s show is shaping up to be just as exciting!"

And then I go and spoil it all...

Thank you to everyone who came out for our Karaoke Night to raise money for the Japan Appeal. We all had a great night and once the first few songs were done, the requests kept rolling in! I can only apologise for turning in to a bit of a cheesy '70's DJ whilst dancing behind the request desk, but you all picked such good tunes! We very much look forward to hosting more of these nights in the future, but in the mean time if you have the karaoke bug, don't miss the regular lunch time slots in Music 2, 11.55!

Special kudos to Olly and Jack for their beautiful duet, Somethin' Stupid. Just lovely ;o)