Over 200 people attended C.O.R.E Dance Project Inc.’s fifth annual Yuk-Yuk’s Comedy Night on Saturday, January 20, 2024.
The nearly sold-out event was held at the Paris Fairgrounds in the Exhibition Centre and featured an 80s themed video dance party, three Yuk-Yuk’s comedians and a silent auction.
Many guests took the opportunity to play into the 80’s theme and came dressed up in neon, leg warmers, track suits and spandex.
The fundraising event offered a night of non-stop entertainment for adults, while at the same time, raising money for the studio’s dancers.
Brampton Comedian, Zabrina Douglas, hosted the comedy show and quickly got attendees laughing and clapping and she set the stage to welcome George Westerholm.
Guitar in hand, Westerholm performed a unique comedy set as he combined the art of joke telling with music, garnering many laughs with his big personality and amusing timing.
After his set, Douglas came out to introduce the shows headliner, Pete Johansson.
Johansson was quick on his feet and had many audience members engaging with him throughout the performance. His relatable set had many laughing out loud alongside him.
Behind the scenes, the C.O.R.E Dance volunteers were hard at work preparing turkey sandwiches and fresh vegetables for guests.
As the comedy show wrapped up, guests began dancing to classic 80’s hits from The Buggles, Michael Jackson, Rick Astley and more, before heading over and grabbing their meal.
Throughout the night many were sure to also pick up an alcoholic beverage from the bar. Others took advantage of the candy bar to pick up nostalgic treats like Airheads, Fizz candy strips, Dubble Bubble chewing gum, Mega Double Lollies and more.
Nicole MacAvelia, owner of C.O.R.E Dance Project Inc. said the event is always a great time, especially for a good cause.
“All the proceeds from tonight will help us bring in professional choreographers for our dancers to learn from. There are these big workshops that happen in Toronto, and they are easily around $500 for the weekend and that’s not including hotel prices and the cost of meals,” said MacAvelia. “Typically there are around 300 kids all in one ballroom, it’s very intimidating for a lot of our younger or newer dancers because it’s just so overwhelming, and sometimes they can’t even see the teacher. This fundraiser really allows us to bring the choreographers to them instead. This way they still get a great experience but there’s no traveling, it’s not costing them big bucks and they are just so much more comfortable in their own space.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
