Spring is upon us and in our school that can only mean one thing: the Spring Fling. Every year, our students look forward to this special dance. Some may use it as a way to put aside their dark winter blues and launch themselves into the florals and warm palettes of spring. Students are seen wearing pastel attire, a stark contrast to the darker, more serious vibe of our annual Homecoming. The dance typically takes place in a decked-out version of our atrium with a DJ for the dance.
However, this year, there is a big change to the dance: tickets are…cheaper? Instead of a steep $10 demand to enter the dancefloor, students are merely asked for five. This leaves many students and staff alike wondering: why could that be?
Many think this sharp downturn of price is due to the lowering demand for tickets. Last year’s dance was considered a significant letdown due to a multitude of factors. One was the lack of advertisement from the school; many people simply did not realize the special dance was coming until it had already passed.
Another factor was the underwhelming ambience that the dance set up. Junior Emily Miller, who covered the dance last year described it as offsetting and mediocre. Lighting is super important for the overall vibe of the dance, so students tend to leave if it doesn’t feel aesthetically pleasing. In addition, while some people enjoyed the DJ, others thought the music did not match the expectations of students, going as far to describe it as borderline elevator music.
There also seems to be a growing trend within the student population to focus less on the dance, and more on an after party. Some students don’t even plan on attending the dance at all, with Instagram pictures of them in their formal attire as proof of their “attendance.” This makes it even more difficult for staff to plan an event that exceeds expectations when a significant portion of the students will not even give it a chance.
This focus on after-parties contributes to another problem. Students do not actually stay at the dance for long making it seem even more dead than it already is. When students fill in right when the dance starts, only to leave feeling disappointed twenty minutes later, it creates a ghost-like empty environment. This makes an unwarming welcome for the students arriving later.
A combination of all of these unfortunate drawbacks would provide a clear explanation of why the tickets are less expensive. There are also whispers of some possible changes coming to the dancefloor this year. For example, there are rumors that the dance will be having a shorter overall running time. The hope is to combat the issue of students leaving too soon. If students only have a short period of time to come, the place will be more densely packed with everyone arriving in a shorter window.
A more dense atmosphere will also improve the vibes of the event. Students will see more of their friends at once and will therefore want to stay longer. At least that’s what the planners believe.
Only time will tell if these new changes will give the Spring Fling a better reputation. Our fellow students have started talking about buying tickets and going to the dance as it inches closer. Hopefully the new changes will pay off.
