This year, Junior Council hosted AHS’ first Winter Formal in over a decade. As many were shocked by the announcement, many also did not even know what to expect. Because this is the first winter school dance we’ve experienced, there really wasn’t a ‘bar’ set for the event.

Senior Tracy Shi says, “Since we haven’t held a Winter Formal dance in over a decade, at first we were anxious preparing for the dance. After seeing the turnout of the dance, we were really happy with how many students showed up and the positive feedback in the end.”

The North Gym was transformed into a winter wonderland with a blue hue filling the room, and decorations such as Christmas trees, snowflakes, and fairy lights. The layout of the room was made up of a dance floor on half of the room and the other half, separated by black curtains, had a seating area, activities, and a photo booth. On this half, the one activity they had there was a snowflake cutting area, where you are able to make paper snowflakes and then tape them up to a poster.

Sophomore Anna Niu really enjoyed this activity as it was “really cute and nostalgic. It reminded [her] of second and third grade when [she] used to make them with her friends” and now seven years later, she is doing that exact same thing. There was also a photo booth, which had a silver, sparkly backdrop to tie in the theme. They had a giant Jenga game as well as another photo op area that had two Christmas trees and a lot of lights. On the outside of the gym, it was not as decorated, with only a water station and additional seating.

The other half of the room was a dance floor with a DJ in the middle. This room was not as brightly lit as the activities side because, of course, it was a dance floor. The floor was quick to fill as the popular songs played attracted more people. The DJ kept the party vibe high with the many top hit songs such as “thank u, next” and “Mo Bamba.” Sophomore Calista Guo felt that even though the DJ did play some popular songs, the majority of them were “rap and a lot of people were telling [her] that they didn’t know the songs.” Regardless, people still had a good time, and it was well-noted by the many students flossing, whipping, or Fortnite dancing to all of these songs, and frankly, it was just really funny. The DJ also played a couple slow songs for those people trying to slow dance with their friends or significant others, but other than that, I would say a lot of people had a great time on the dance floor.  

I felt that the dance was pretty well executed as it never felt too cramped or too spacious, meaning that the atmosphere was well spread out. Whether you were like Anna who “had a really good time with her friends” or Calista who found the whole event to be “unexpected”, I hope you enjoyed reading about the rundown of Winter Formal 2019, and if we ever have another one, you won’t miss me reviewing it as well.

Graphic courtesy of ASB