Did you go to the Winter Formal Dance? This year 300 tickets were sold, which increased from the 230 tickets sold last year. But, on the night of the dance, Feb. 1, only 150 people showed up. So the question stands: Where was everyone?
The newspaper team interviewed Cleveland students and leadership class members to find out the reason behind the lack of popularity for the dance, which was held on a Saturday at the end of finals week to celebrate the end of the semester.
For many students, the dance just wasn’t on their radar. Junior Jane Treadwell “didn’t even know it was happening,” and freshman Sam Wagner said, “I didn’t hear too much about it.”
In response to the “lack” of advertising, the leadership class said they made and placed posters on each floor of the school, posted news items on Trivory, made and posted two TikTok videos and one Instagram, and finally, broadcasted two intercom messages to alert students.
“I posted like a TikTok and an Instagram story saying, ‘y’all finna pull up,” said junior Atlas Schuman, the student DJ at the dance and leadership member.
The dance, hosted in the school gym, was also a factor. Students interviewed said they would like a change in scenery, and wondered if maybe some more money would be put into the location.
Junior Milo Swinth said, “I would go if it were at a nicer place.”
While the leadership class would like to host the semi-formal in a nicer venue, leadership advisor Jessica Sawyer said there were scheduling conflicts with other venues and that one, the Pavilion, was being remodeled this year. “We’re planning on doing it next year,” said Sawyer.
Other reasons for not attending concerned the issue of going with or without someone and facing the stigma of singularity. Sophomore Rigder Carlson said he would go “but I don’t have a date.” The issue of singularity extended to platonic relationships too with Maisie Wheeler, freshman, saying, “I would go if my friends were going.”
“You can’t win ’em all,” said Sawyer, the leadership advisor. “Right now we’re dealing with a lack of social interaction in a post-Covid and digital society.”
So the question facing the leadership class and the school is how to keep the formal dance from losing its appeal?
Upperclassmen tend to think that dances are targeted toward lowerclassmen, and even some freshmen won’t go, because they have “better things to do,” said sophomore TK Williams. “I think it would’ve been nicer if more people in my grade came, maybe more seniors had showed up. A lot of people think school dances are lame, corny, and silly.”
To make the dance more appealing to teens, ”I think teachers need to let loose a little bit and be more chillax,” about the music that they can play, said Schuman, the student DJ.
“We sold about 300 tickets for this formal, but if you went to the dance you could obviously see that 300 students did not show up,” said leadership student Maggie Gibson, junior.
From a student perspective, junior Sabrina Johnson tried to make the dance more “sparkly” and appealing by implementing fun decorations, a photo booth, and a student DJ.
It sounds like there’s much to look forward to next year with potentially a dance at the Pavilion! So students, be on the lookout for the tickets, which are sold at the front of the school, and keep your eyes open for an Instagram post, and put your best listening ears on for that intercom message. And most important of all, tell your friends.
