Gathering in front of the school cafeteria on a rainy night, 491 students shared umbrellas and waited eagerly to take off on the nine buses headed to the San Jose Country Club (SJCC) on Dec. 10.
As anticipation built for the school’s second off-campus Winter Formal dance, the Dance Commission served snacks and guided students toward the professional photos set up at an first-ever pre-Formal party held in the cafeteria area.
According to activities director Matt Torrens, three times as many attendees took professional pictures with Now & Forever Studios as those who were originally signed up, and the pre-Formal event was a huge success.
“We made changes after seeing how last year’s photos were too chaotic, and it's always great when we can see what mistakes we made in the past and improve on them,” senior dance commissioner Christine Wang said.
The dance did have one major issue: A miscommunication led to the nine scheduled buses arriving a week early. And there were other minor problems once the dance started..
“At the beginning of the dance, the venue felt a bit crowded as there were a lot of people enjoying the chocolate Sundaes and fountain,” junior Mervi Tan said. “But as soon as the dancing started, I felt that the venue opened up a lot because the dance room was actually quite large.”
The venue, decorated with fireplaces, maple leaf-colored candles and elegant furnitures, also offered balconies where students enjoyed a spectacular night view of the Silicon Valley. The warm and cozy atmosphere was perfectly suited for this year’s Winter Formal theme, “Winter Warmth: Wrapped up in Light and Life,” which was also inspired by Ed Sheeran’s lyrics to “Afire Love.”
According to Wang, the highlight of the night was the chocolate fondue, where she and her friends “hung out for a good 10 minutes.”
Others, including junior Nathan Kang, mentioned that the music was the best part of the dance. This was a success for the Dance Commission: two weeks prior to the dance, the commissioners met with Devin Pennix (“DJ Delicious”), the school’s contract DJ, and discussed a playlist that would both suit everyone’s musical taste as well as be appropriate for the occasion.
Overall, the event saw a spike in attendance, selling nearly 20 more tickets than last year’s already-popular dance. Many of these tickets went to individuals who decided to enjoy the dance without a date.
Wanting to spend their last non-prom dance enjoying their time with friends, ASB president Mitali Shanbhag and her group of friends decided that it made sense to go to formal stag.
“We wanted to set an example that it’s acceptable to break social constructs and to do something that's not conventionally considered as appropriate,” Shanbhag said. “So we decided to go stag to kind of make a statement.”
Senior Jessy Liu also added that going with friends relieved a lot of stress, as it is often a hassle to coordinate with a date.
“It is so nice not to have to worry about trivial things like where your date is, matching colors and meeting up,” Liu said. “You can spend the entire dance with your friends, and it could still be really fun.”
Sophomore Simran Mallik was one of the people inspired by Shanbhag, who was also her LINK leader and someone she “looked up to.”
“I didn’t go to Formal last year, and I went with just my friends this year and it was so much fun taking pictures with them,” Mallik said. “It was easy to communicate with each other and to let loose at the dance, and I think people shouldn’t stress about getting a date because you can have fun with or without one.”