ASB attendance expectations with 150 tickets sold met, surpassing the 80 tickets needed for the dance to be made. This year’s Aloha Dance scheduled on September 13 did not get canceled or rescheduled–a stark contrast to last year’s Aloha Dance which was canceled due to low ticket sales
Part of it being because of the price set at $8 presale and $10 at the door that generated low interest in attending.
“Desde el principio pensamos que realmente no se iba llevar a cabo por la experiencia del año pasado.” said 10th grade ASB member Carol ValBuena. “Pero a ver que ya antes [del baile] estaban pidiendo extras tickets para vender come que ya superó nuestras expectativas.”
[Since the beginning we thought that it really wasn’t going to be carried out because of the experience of last year. But seeing that before [the dance] they were asking for extra tickets to sell, which already exceeded our expectations.]
From the start of the year, there were talks between ASB and school administration on how to promote the dance and make it affordable for students so that students could be more involved. They at first thought to make the dance completely free, but they only did the introduction induction ticket which helped ASB with selling tickets. ASB also lowered the price of tickets to $3 presale and $6 at the door.
“So el apoyo del staff y también el apoyo de los maestros y también que Ms. Correa pues también ella está bien involucrada de que el school spirit esté más arriba.”
ASB teacher Ms. Molina who is starting her second year as ASB advisory said. Things had changed this year on how ASB and the school are going about students having school spirit.
ASB also had high expectations from students based on last year’s homecoming dance.
“El año pasado siento que fue un éxito total y a muchos les gusto. Entonces creo que eso hizo que tuvieran altas expectativas también de la Aloha.” Said 11th grader Alicia Cardenas, another member of ASB.
[Last year I feel like it was a total success and many liked iit. So I think that made them have high expectations for Aloha as well.]
To meet the expectations of the students, they set up a ticket system depending on the points earned, ranging from one to five points which included a few tossing games so that students could exchange them for prizes: candy, sticky hands, etc. There was also a photobooth which is not present in small dances such as Aloha Dance and reserved only for homecoming and prom, but Mr. Galamo, student store & financial advisor, helped out ASB with the DJ and photobooth.
Students that attended the dance had some mixed reactions with Aloha Dance, but nonetheless were more positive than negative.
“Honestly, it was actually kinda fun. They had games, pretty much a lot of stuff, had fun with my friends and all. It was okay.” commented Zeus Ibarias, a 12th grade student who had attended previous ASB dances and events.
The Aloha Dance entrance, located in Belgrave Avenue, set up the atmosphere well for the event with a colorful balloon arch that led to the games; students could have also gotten a free Hawaiin floral necklace placed on the check in table.
Hawaiian theme decorations were present like inflatable palm trees, pineapple balloons, cardboard surfboards and Lilo & Stitch cut outs which were characters used a lot in the promotion of the dance and were even present on the tickets of the dance.
Students did note that the beginning of the dance was rather boring and the games set up only managed to entertain for a certain amount of time.
“The dance was kind of boring in the beginning. I felt that it was very much of a rip off, but then again it was free so I can’t complain that much, but at the end like the last twenty minutes it kinda got funner and better compared to the rest of the dance.” said an anonymous student.
Music also became a topic of discussion for the students who attended the dance as at first there was Hawaiin theme music till they switched it up for mainstream music such as Kendrick Lamar’s recent hit, “Not Like Us” which some say felt out of place.
As students started showing up later in the evening at 7 the music switched up to cumbia, bachata and later reggaeton which showed a high number of students joining in the dance floor. The reggaeton music became a point of contention as while fun to dance, some students took it too far with grinding that a school staff member had to step in and separate students from one another.
One of the bigger critiques of the Aloha Dance was the food. There was a food vending section placed right in front of the cafeteria which served students one slice of pizza, soda, chips and an ice cone. Few students shared their displeasure with the limited food options and the price. One slice of pizza cost $7 while a combo meal (pizza, soda, chips & ice cone) cost $5.
“I would’ve liked, you know, I guess more food options.” said 11th grader Debbie Rios. “All they had was pizza and then it ran out.”
Ms. Molina did comment that they had a food catering scheduled on the day of the dance, but the food catering had canceled on them the week before the dance leaving ASB having to find a replacement.
The Aloha Dance while not fully meeting students expectations and leaving them wanting more especially after last year’s successful Homecoming Dance–still manage to provide students with the hope that the next dance would be better. For ASB this rise of attendance for the dance sets them on the right track to expect more students to show up for future events.
With Homecoming right around the corner, their prices were announced in the Tuesday announcement. This upcoming dance would cost students $25 a ticket to attend. ASB’s current track record of successful attendance might continue with the anticipated Homecoming dance whose theme for this year is La La Land.
By Emily Leyva, staff writer
Photo credit: Yearbook staff