Dances should make use of ballroom

Due to Halloween, Chadron State College had lots of events to offer students. The culmination of the Halloween week was the Halloween Dance Sunday.

I was looking forward to this event, anticipating a beautifully decorated ballroom and lots of fun, because the Halloween dance was the first major dance of only several to be hosted at the college.
We had the 80s party, which was in the Student Center lobby, and because it was in the lobby I don’t consider it to be a major dance.

Because the college didn’t have a homecoming dance, I expected something outstanding for Halloween, one even greater than last year’s Halloween dance.

As it turned out, I was mistaken in my expectation.

I stopped by the Student Center a couple hours before the dance, and I was disappointed to see that the dance was going to be in the Student Center lobby.

Apparently the Halloween dance was the second major dance this year, and its location definitely did not make me happy.
My image of the big college dance is in the ballroom. Whether the dress code is a costume, a nice outfit, or jeans and a T-shirt, a big dance means a dance in the ballroom. In my mind these concepts go inseparable. This is a big dance. We need a big place for it.

The issue is not that the college does not have a place for the dance.

On the contary, we have a great ballroom to organize big events such as conferences, dances, and dinners. We have only a few major dances during the year, why not use the ballroom?

I came back for the Halloween dance party, hoping I was wrong and that it would be in the ballroom.
What I came to see was a long line of people in front of the entrance to the party, which altogether looked more like an entrance to the dance club rather than a big school dance.

I am not trying to say anything bad about it – the organizers did a great job in creating the dance club atmosphere.
I liked going through the haunted corridor before finding myself in the club-like room, which was comprised of two parts – the dancing area, and an area to chill and have a snack or a drink. It all looked very impressive. I had no idea the Student Center lobby could be redecorated to resemble a club.

After a few minutes and the surprised effect wore off, it seemed like just another club party, and possibly even worse: crowded, stuffy, dark, and boring. Meandering from one area to the next was nearly impossible.

Claustrophobia set in due to the extremely low ceilings. The windows, walls, and entrance were covered with black plastic, which prevented good circulation and made the room hot and stuffy.

This only became worse as more bodies piled into the too-small area.

The lounge was separate from the dancing area, making a space for relaxing and talking. All that could be heard was extremely loud music, preventing students from chit-chatting with friends.

There were only a few couches, which prevented a large group of friends to sit together, and only one table with a few lonely chairs around it.

Empty cups littered the tables.

They were left by people, who, like me, had trouble finding a trash can.I decided to dance instead. I wore high heels, so I took them off as I usually do, resulting in the nasty feeling of the carpet under my feet.

Dancing on the carpet just doesn’t work, with or without shoes. There should be a dance floor.

So what did we get? A lot of people spent alot of time and made immense effort to make the lobby look like a dance club, which definitely looked good.

But a dancing place should not only look good, but also be suitable for dancing and chilling, and definitely take into consideration the number of attendees.

The party, that could have been very big, seemed relatively small and pathetic just because of the place used.

Was it necessary to reject the idea of the ballroom for the dance? Was establishing something new really worth the money and the effort spent?