BY GAVIN SMITH

Weeks of stressing about asking a date, finding a dress and a tie to match, making dinner reservations, buying flowers and tickets, finally boil down to one evening: Homecoming, or as the whispers in the hall say, “A let down.”

Hoping to have a fun night after the end of the Mariemont Varsity Football team’s winning streak, students flocked to the Homecoming dance on October 4, 2014. However, murmurs from the student body reveal that the dance did not live up to their expectations. I testify to this.

As this is my senior year and was my last Homecoming dance, I hoped to experience a night which I would never forget. I will not forget my senior dance, not because of the amazing time I hoped to have, but because of how lame the dance turned out to be.

When we walked into the gym — the dance’s location —  there were two foldable tables, one consisting of various types of cookies and a cooler of water, and the other consisting of students playing board games. The only decorations that adorned the dancefloor were the blue floor mats to protect the gymnasium, and two single threads of Christmas tree lights, one going across the balcony and the other connecting the DJ’s speakers.

The principals worked as a tag-team, one manning the balcony with a bird’s eye view to spot inappropriate dancing, whilst the other manned the floor and separated those dancing too closely.

I would assume it was an easy night for both principals, for hardly any of the students danced in the first place (unless one considers jumping and clapping as dancing.)

One of the biggest issues with the dance was the song choice. Generally, students enjoy high-energy music which is easy to move around to, not Taylor Swift and music that was popular pre-1999.

As senior Graham McCarthy, who attended Indian Hill’s as well as Mariemont’s Homecoming dance, said, “Mariemont should have had better, more upbeat songs for a dance.”

Nonetheless, it was not the DJ’s fault. When I requested a song which I knew would get the students dancing, the disc jockey, seemingly  sharing my disappointed attitude, said, “Sorry, I’m playing the loosest music I’m allowed.”

However, Mr. Block said, “The DJ misinterpreted our instruction in regards to music choice. We asked him to play school appropriate music; though, he took that instruction too far and played music that both the students and staff had not expected. We hope for a better turn out next year.”

Recently, I went to Walnut Hill’s Homecoming dance, which was at the Duke Energy Center in an actual dance hall. There was a glowing canopy covering the dance floor, and a DJ at one end playing modern dance music  with which the students were familiar. It was the best Homecoming I have attended out of the four I have been to (I did not attend Mariemont’s 2013 Homecoming because I didn’t have a particularly fun time the year before).

Regardless, Mariemont could easily improve its Homecoming with a few simple steps: 1) Add some decorations to the dance floor, or maybe even a theme so the dance is visually enticing; 2) Allow song recommendations. The dance is for the students, they should have a say in what the DJs play; 3) Keep the picture booth — it was a big hit; 4) Loosen up on restrictions with dancing. There is no need for the principals to patrol and pick out students for dancing closely, I have never heard of another school that does such a thing. In the 1950s, adults tried to do the same with Rock N’ Roll and it just caused students to rebel even more; and finally, 5) Don’t censor the music which is only suitable for Junior High students. Play music that is relevant to high school students; it’s much easier to have a good time at a dance when there is music one can actually dance to.