Well, this feels familiar.
For the second time this school year, a CCHS dance has been canceled due to a lack of student interest.
The Aurora Ball, planned by Interact Club, was scheduled to take place in December, but plans were nixed due to low ticket sales. Now, the Sadie’s dance, planned for March 16, had to be scrapped for the exact same reason. It’s enough to leave Cowboys scratching their heads. When did everyone lose interest in school dances?
Some think that students are reluctant to attend dances other than those typically expected in high school— homecoming and prom.
“There’s only a small amount of students that are open to new things,” Class of 2021 President Victoria Pera said. “Some students are so used to homecoming and prom and that’s it.”
“Some students are so used to homecoming and prom and that’s it.”
The Class of 2021 was inspired to put on a big event such as a dance because of the success of the senior class’s Halloween Horror Nights field trip. The class officers hoped that, if this year’s dance was successful, it could be continued in the coming years. The money raised from the dance would have been put toward the Class of 2021’s senior breakfast, prom and other events to celebrate their last year of high school.
“I’m definitely disappointed that it was canceled because I think it would’ve been such a good [tradition] to have going forward for junior and senior year,” Class of 2021 Corresponding Secretary Summer Testa said. “It would’ve raised a lot of money for the Class [of 2021].”
But throughout the week and a half of sales, only about 20 tickets were purchased. Without the money to secure vendors or to cover basic costs, the dance had to be canceled.
“We would have [had to sell] at least 200 in order to have a good dance,” Pera said. “We had so many good ideas and we needed people to buy tickets in order to fulfill [them].”
“I think it would’ve been such a good [tradition] to have going forward for
junior and senior year.”
The dance’s planned theme was Wynwood, a popular weekend destination for CCHS students looking for vibrant murals or trendy restaurants. But without much demonstrated interest, executing the art district themed dance seemed like a fruitless endeavor.
While students might have been interested in a Wynwood-themed event, some believe that the premise of a Sadie Hawkins dance was enough to deter them from buying a ticket. For a Sadies Hawkins dance, girls are encouraged to ask guys to the dance, rather than the other way around. For many, the idea of this gender role switch might not have been appealing.
“The girls are scared to ask the guys because the girls nowadays want the guys to do everything,” senior Mark Fontana said. “They’re scared of being rejected [by] the guys.”
Regardless of the reason for the dance’s demise, the sophomore officers don’t seem to be accepting defeat. Rather than mope about the lack of student interest, the Class of 2021 plans to continue raising funds for their grade by better catering to the student body.
“All we can do is just kind of move on and do things that our class would want to do instead of just crying about it,” Pera said.
Photo by Kayla Florenco
