After the Glow Dance getting put on hold for the past two years due to COVID, the Renaissance Committee attempted to bring it back. However, Renaissance only sold less than tickets to the dance. Sadly, the committee had to cancel the dance for the second time in a row, the first time being due to weather in the spring. So the question has to be asked, why is dance attendance so low, and what can be done about it?
The music choices are bad, they get awkward, they are all the same every year, and they seem like a waste of time, are all ways that New Castle High school responded when asked if they liked or disliked school dances
Why was the Glow Dance a bust? Students said: The Price. When NCHS was asked why they did not buy tickets, almost half of the students said it was due to the price, and the next most popular answer at 20% said simply because it did not sound fun. With tickets being set at $20 a ticket, they were $5 less than Prom tickets which was one of the main points students brought up. Many students also said because it sounded too messy, they simply just did not want to go, and it didn’t sound fun.
The price of a ticket to the Glow Dance, which was set at $20, was as low as they could make it to break even. It would have taken 100 students purchasing tickets to make the cost break even. The reason the price of a ticket was set so high was to offset the cost of renting the equipment, lights, DJ, and buying the paint for the dance. “We made the price as low as we could for the cost of putting the dance on,” said Renaissance leader Karen Foster.
NCHS was trying to make the push for the Glow Dance to have another dance that the entire student body can attend, unlike Prom which is upperclassmen only.
However, responses from the 2019 Glow Dance were overwhelmingly positive. Many seniors who attended the dance their freshmen year have said it was their favorite dance they’ve attended. Senior Ryan Griser says,”People do not understand how much fun this dance is. In 4 years, over the multitude of dances I have attended, the glow dance was by far my favorite dance of the year.”
Although a majority of feedback from the student body has been negative, not all students dislike dances. There is a portion of the student body that says they love dances. Sophomore Rihannan Fisher says, “I think they’re pretty fun and are a good opportunity to make memories with your friends. Many students enjoyed homecoming in 2021 and wish that New Castle would have a Homecoming Dance every year.
Even though some students still enjoy dances, the question is, Are dances in general losing popularity, or do students just not want to go to events such as the Glow Dance? The upcoming Fall dance has had good support so far, however, the Fall Dance is an annual event, unlike the Glow Dance.
Freshman Anyah Amman says,”I love them. They are my highlight to the school year.”
Many students like the idea of going to dances, and have ideas to change it up. Senior Bradley Henderson says,”I’d rather have a dance after every basketball game.” Other students said they want homecoming to be every year or every other year instead of every 4 years.
Freshman Gabriella Santiago says,”I think we should do a Halloween Costume Dance, a dance for New Years, and a mini “prom” for sophomores and freshmen.”
Junior Peyton Massengale says,”I think there is a big gap between fall dance and prom. Maybe adding another one in between would be fun.”
It seems like dances such as Homecoming, Fall Dance, and Prom are here to stay, but what about dances out of the norm such as the Glow Dance? Grieser says,”People do not understand that the more people that attend the dances, the more fun it is. People complain about dances not being fun, but they are not if people do not attend.”
The question many have been asking is, Did the virtual year due to COVID affect student’s motivation to go to dances? Sophomore Jasmine Windisch said,” “We’d rather get on a Google meet and socialize that way instead of going to a dance we have no other hype into going to,” Google Meets, which became the Norm in 2020 and 2021, have seemed to affect student’s motivation in a lot of aspects both school and non-school related.
It’s no secret that virtual learning due to COVID heavily affected students mentally. According to a journal by OSU, a year and a half of virtual learning made student’s socialization rates plummet by 48%, their awareness of merritts drop by 71%, and their rejection to change increased by 78%.
During the pandemic, student’s sociability has plummeted due to virtual learning and social distancing. Could student’s motivation to attend dances be a result of this? Research has shown that virtual classes highly affected student’s motivation and discipline.
Many students’ first year and a half of high school was heavily impacted by COVID, with the class of 2024’s first year of high school being almost entirely online. For the class of 2025, one year of middle school entirely, and half a year in high school was missed due to COVID. It is clear that with almost all school activities brought to a halt for the 20-21 school year that student’s motivation to attend school events has declined.
What was the definite answer to dance attendance declining? Is it another effect of COVID, or is it simply changing social norms? We may never get a definitive answer to that question. Will events like the Glow Dance ever make a comeback, or will New Castle continue to have only two school dance events per year? Is the Glow Dance too much out of the norm to be successful? Perhaps one day future classes will rekindle the urge to have more school dances, and perhaps events like the Glow Dance will be brought back.
