Dance Disillusionment

This Homecoming, I found myself joining my fellow upperclassmen in the time-honored tradition of arriving late and leaving early. This ritual stumps school workers all the way up the Principal, and, until recently, it confused me too. Like the upperclassmen before us, however, my group found our excitement draining earlier than it used to, and the night quickly lost its appeal. So what causes this drained vibe, and what can be done?

One possible culprit is when “the dancing and the beat don’t match up,” as Mr. Henninger puts it. In other words, moshing. This dance style defined by its frequent collisions dominates the school dances. Mr. Boyd, who was the DJ for the dance, noticed that “at the end, [students] were really dancing, and at the beginning they were really dancing. In the middle, there was more the mosh pit type stuff going on.” Upperclassmen show up, they get excited and mosh, then it seems they hit a wall and leave the dance. The physicality of moshing takes a lot of energy to sustain, and eventually the environment in the BHS cafeteria lacks the excitement to keep the engine going.  

There are several possible reasons for why this moshing culture developed. One theory suggested by Caz Kosinski is the music choice. When prompted about the tone of the dance, he said “heavy, intense, like rap music… just causes people to dive into each other and mosh, and it’s like, that’s nobody’s fault.” Intense songs like Fein by Travis Scott encourage equally intense dancing in the form of moshing. Once this ball starts rolling, it can be hard to shift the mood without it feeling sudden, which encourages playing more intense music; However, this music choice could be a product of the moshing culture rather than the cause.

Another possible reason for the prevalence of moshing is the personal immunity it cultivates. Within the mosh circle, people are so close together and moving so quickly that it is impossible to match the movements of an individual person. In the modern age of instant information travel via the internet, this anonymous style of dancing leaves less room for embarrassment when compared to the arms-length distance of more traditional dancing. With the rise of nonchalance, perhaps moshing is the only way for students to dance without risk of injuring their public image. As Mr. Henninger described it to me, “The reason they’re in a big circle is... They don’t want people to really, I guess, see what they’re doing or how they’re doing or dancing.”

Beyond the effects of moshing, many upperclassmen I spoke to lacked interest in the school dances because of a feeling of fatigue. Wyatt Briggs, a Junior, told me, “That’s the worst, when it’s just stale and everything that’s going to happen has already happened”. By the time a student reaches junior year, they have already had the opportunity to go to four dances at the school. Each of these dances is held in the same location with a largely overlapping music cue. For many, the dances lose their quality as a night to remember as they blend in with the previous years. 

The state of the BHS dances isn’t set in stone, however. Many faculty, such as Mr. Boyd and Mr. Henninger, are optimistic about the future of the dances, and many students believe they can improve. In terms of spicing up the dance, many students I interviewed seemed open to experimenting with dancing styles other than moshing. Ian Wiley believes “If people were doing that same thing, I don’t think it would be embarrassing at all.” Furthermore,  a wider variety of dance music in the playlist, which is created through student suggestions, could reduce the feeling of Déjà vu.

Additionally, it’s important to remember that the dances are not a failure. Mr. Boyd shared with me, “We had like 500 kids at [homecoming] out of a school of like 750. That’s pretty good participation.” Participation would not be that high if people found no enjoyment in attending. Beyond that, Homecoming is still a milestone event for freshmen like Theo Stone, who enjoyed the moshing and stayed the full 3 hours. It’s important to remember that, as an event held by the school, the dance is meant to appeal to a variety of people, and it’s important to not lose the aspects of the dance that people already like. 

Ultimately, the dance is arranged by students, for students, so the only way to instigate change is for students to get involved. Mr. Boyd emphasized that the pep committee is open to anyone with suggestions, and even those who are too busy to attend the meetings are free to email him or any pep committee officer. Pep committee meets every Friday, and you can find suggestion boxes for the dances on their instagram page closer to the dance. The more voices that contribute, the more the dances will represent the interests of the student body.