It’s the week leading up to a school dance. The halls are filled with murmurs about what dress everyone is wearing, who has a date and where everyone is going for dinner. Clearly, students will jump at the opportunity to go to a nice dinner and take some pictures with friends. But are school dances anything but an excuse to get dressed up?
Our school’s latest dance was Spring Fling, which took place on Saturday, March 29th. Lacking the usual enthusiasm that comes with a school dance, it seems to have been an epic failure. First of all, the dance was poorly advertised. Typically, ticket sales are announced on the morning announcements and the Dailies during the week prior to the dance. But this year, aside from a few mentions on the Dailies and some posters scattered around the school, ticket sales were kept on the down low.
The ticket sales themselves also likely contributed to the lack of enthusiasm surrounding Spring Fling. Each student had to pay $10 for a ticket, which might have discouraged people from going. While I understand that the school needs money to fund the decorations and music for the dance, students who are only going for half an hour are not going to want to pay for such a short amount of time.
Attendance was already an issue in past school dances, such as Homecoming this fall. Given this, it’s no surprise that the numbers were low at Spring Fling, especially with the half-hearted advertisement. One guest remarked that there were so few people there that you could count them. Low attendance does not help with the party atmosphere, and it makes for a lame dance overall. If students show up to the dance and are met with a dull feeling in the air, they definitely aren’t going to stay for long, and they likely won’t be making their way to the dance floor.
Among the few people that did attend Spring Fling, their visit was short and their dancing was lackluster. Attendees could be found standing in circles, making small talk and complimenting each other’s outfits. It seems that most students were looking to make a quick appearance, saying a few “I love your dress!” and “You look so pretty!” before making their way to an after party a mere 20 minutes after arriving. Some people who dressed up for the dance didn’t even make it at all; they just went from dinner or a pre-dance function to an after party. This raises the question, are students just looking for an excuse to party?
With the lifeless party atmosphere of our dances, you can hardly blame them. Our Spring Fling took place in the atrium, and while the lights were off, the area still had some light spilling in from adjacent rooms. This gave the dance an offsetting mood, further preventing a good time. The DJ was mediocre as well. They played a mix of 2000s pop and Spanish jazz that was reminiscent of elevator music. The few songs that did line up with the party music taste of our students were quickly shut down due to being explicit. As you can imagine, the lack of good tunes didn’t help with the number of people on the dance floor.
The dance took place from 7:30 to 10:30pm, but our school implemented a policy that nobody would be allowed entry after 9:00pm. During the first few hours of the dance, those who were leaving were replaced by those just arriving. But once people left after 9:00pm, nobody else was coming in to replace them and the number of students quickly dwindled. This meant that the low numbers of students attending became even more apparent as the night went on.
Though it’s clear that our school dances can be improved, most people are not rooting for their downfall. They are supposed to be a fun and memorable part of the high school experience, and many would love to see them be redeemed in following years. So what can students and our school do to improve our dances? For students, the most impactful thing you can do is show up. More students in attendance correlates to a more lively and enjoyable atmosphere, which will in turn lead to people staying for longer and enjoying themselves more. Hopefully, in the future, our school dances will make an epic comeback and become an exciting experience for our students.
