Rehearsing Campus: Full Swing and DOOM
Written and Photographed by Maeve Pinheiro ‘25
Edited by Shelly Wenqing Xue ‘25
Full Swing performing at Arts Fest 2022
No prior experience is needed to become a member of the Full Swing dance club, so you know this is the club for you. You loved dancing as a kid, but soon found yourself busied with other hobbies and interests, many of which you still participate in today; but, you’re not dancing. After years of containing your dancing to sweaty summer parties at home and packed dorm events on campus, you were eager to get back into the swing of dancing more purposefully, dancing for fun but with more pomp around the movements. When your friend told you about Full Swing, you realized it was the in you were looking for.
Full Swing Performs “You Belong with Me” by Taylor Swift at their 2022 Swing Showdown.
As soon as you began hearing about Full Swing and their smaller team, DOOM, you realized that this would not be an average club dance team. DOOM was pitched to you through two questions: “Do you like to dance?" and "Do you hate metal music?” Although your answer to the first question is a definite “Yes!” you were pretty hesitant about answering the latter. Do you actually know anything about metal music? It's loud…there are instruments and usually screaming. How could it possibly be paired with the classical swing music and dance moves? Don't people swing at weddings or in ballrooms? Who came up with the bright idea to make a metal swing team?
Your friend gives an answer to the second question for you, in a way. DOOM is a popular video game about a deadly, honorable space marine, the Doom Slayer, fighting hordes of demons from hell to protect humanity: No wonder BC is supporting this! DOOM was loved and enjoyed by many BC students since its release in 1993, but the Full Swing team of past cherished the Doom Slayer so much that they remixed the entire soundtrack into a 3-minute composition appropriate for swing dancing but still very much hell-bent on giving justice to metal.
Full Swing at Lincoln Center NYC for their Midsummer’s Swing event 2022.
Auditions for Full Swing were held on Sunday, September 25th in Carney and almost 25 new members showed up: including you. You had the benefit of knowing an E-Board member going in, but even those who were new to the group had a particular sub-team in mind. “DOOM was the most popular team this year,” said Eva Cassidy, MCAS ‘25 and Marketing Manager for Full Swing. “There was even competition amongst the leaders about who would get which auditionee.”
Not even a day later, you got the very exciting text you were waiting for: Welcome to your DOOM! You have become the newest member of the Doom Slayers' entourage and are cordially invited to their infamous Discord server. Between the DOOM inspired banner at the top of the page and the memes about upcoming practices, you knew you’d be dancing with a group of close-knit friends that you’d soon be able to call your own.
DOOM practices run on Thursdays from 7:00 - 9:00 pm, with an occasional “family dinner” from 6:00 - 7:00 pm right before. Most of your new team is just like you: students with a shared love for performance (and video games) with a little bit of time on their hands. It is a really nice break away from the regular hussle of classes and labs, without having to worry about competing in front of thousands of people in Conte Forum during Showdown–unless you also join Full Swing's Showdown team. You also hear that this year, Full Swing will be showing off all their teams in their own Showcase. Less of a crowd and all of your friends? Sign yourself up! Full Swing has so many options for involvement, but you find yourself happy in DOOM.
Preview the newest gaming experience for Full Swing: DOOM Eternal.
Note: 'Rehearsing BC' is inspired by The Rehearsal by Nathan Fielder, on HBCMax.