Dance commission prepares for ‘High School Musical’-themed Homecoming dance

Every year, the Homecoming dance brings the gym to life, music blaring, students dancing and lights flashing. 

The three members of the dance commission — seniors Ashleigh Abe, Lillian Wang and Kaylie Wong — have been working on a little-noticed part of Homecoming week: putting together Saturday’s dance held in the Large Gym from 8-10 p.m

Perhaps the biggest challenge is that the theme for this year’s dance, “High School Musical,” doesn’t lend itself to decorations.

“It’s been kind of challenging to brainstorm how to transform the gym,” Abe said.

In addition to theme and class decorations, the commissioners plan to include games such as foosball and air hockey, similar to last year’s Homecoming dance. The dance commission is also likely going to use a similar lighting system to the Back-to-School Dance since it received positive feedback from students.

Hiring a DJ is also challenging for the commissioners, especially considering that it is the main expense of the dance,  Abe said. One major change for this year’s dance is that the dance commission has hired a different DJ from last year’s Homecoming dance. DJ Mike Bowns was popular at the end-of-year dance last year and this year’s back-to-school dance, so the commission decided to bring him back instead of DJ Delicious, who was hired for last year’s Homecoming dance.

“DJ Mike takes in a lot of student feedback and song requests, and we’ve gotten more positive responses to him compared to DJ Delicious, since he plays newer songs,” Wang said. “For the dance commission, he’s easier to work with, since he is better at communication.”

To reduce the cost of the dance, the dance commission considered a student DJ for several dances last year. However, the dance commission was unable to go through with a student DJ because the administration “had some concerns,” according to Wang.

Overall, according to current estimates by the dance commission, the dance will cost around $3,000. Tickets will cost $10 with ASB and $15 without if tickets are purchased ahead of time. At the door, prices are $15 with ASB and $20 without, senior head dance commissioner Lillian Wang said.

Based on previous experiences, Wang said that the dance generally earns a profit of $2,500 to $3,000 and receives more attendance than the back-to-school and end-of-year dances.

Another major challenge the commission and administration face is keeping the gym at a comfortable temperature due to lack of adequate air-conditioning.

“Last year, there was a problem that it got too hot in the gym, so we’re trying to come up with a solution so students can get the most out of the dance,” Wang said.