Still buzzing from their win against the Paly Vikings, students showed off their moves on the dance floor at the Homecoming dance on Saturday night.
This year’s Homecoming dance had a new DJ, who had an appreciation for smooth song transitions and flashing lights.
While the dance floor was sparse at the beginning, students began to pour in and whirl their nights away within an hour.
“The props and decorations provided an immersive setting that brought the theme to life,” senior Sacha Deb said.
The theme was Poseidon’s Palace, a take on Disney’s classic The Little Mermaid.
Tridents and balloons were taped on the walls, along with gold and green streamers. The ship decoration used at Friday’s rally also made an appearance, stationed at the gates by the parking lot.
Along with the dance floor, this year’s Homecoming night included a game room where students escaped from the noise to play puzzles and board games.
“I really liked that they had the space in the dance room to get away from all the noise,” sophomore Kami King said.
Many agreed with King. “It was really, really loud,” sophomore Po Budagova said.
Senior Arman Azadpour thought that the game room could use some tweaks. “Bring back the poker and blackjack that they had in previous years,” he said.
One of the main complaints was a lack of seating. Since the dance was held in the New Gym, the only seating was on the few benches situated outside the soccer field and inside the dance room. The shortage of restrooms also led to crowding.
“I wanted to have a space with fresh air and relatively quiet,” Budagova said.
Another common suggestion was to bring back the photo area that was present at previous dances, most notably last year’s winter formal.
Along with the customary slow songs, the DJ took song requests. The dance floor resembled a mosh pit when “HOT TO GO!” by Chappell Roan and “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar played. Unconventionally, “FE!N” by Travis Scott was played twice in one night.
The water and snack station—which boasted boxes upon boxes of goldfish crackers—was hectic all night, with people running up from the gym to give their mouths respite from all the shouting and singing.
In a surprising turn of events, three more senior homecoming queens were crowned: Lexi Chua, Heidi Chen, and Tatiola Sobomehin*.
“I was pretty surprised that I won,” Chen said. “I was just happy I got to win with my friends too.”
“My favorite part of Hoco was getting dressed up and dancing with my friends,” senior Silvana Schmidt said. “A lot of the songs weren’t super danceable, but overall it was good.”
The dance was only two and a half hours, and many students felt that it should have been longer. “Those last 30 minutes are worth it,” sophomore Calvin Blanford said. He thought that the dance should have ended at 11 p.m. rather than 30 minutes before.
*Tatiola Sobomehin is a journalist for the M-A Chronicle.
