Dance decisions

Dances to be held at North Campus for first time since explosion

After the explosion last year on August 2, the school dance coordination staff was faced with a problem: where to have the dances. The first three dances of last year were held at the Mendota Heights Campus, but not without conflict and complaints. Many students had complained about  the Homecoming and Sadie’s venues because they were at the Mendota Heights Campus. The dance coordinators took action and Sno Daze was arranged to be at another venue in Minneapolis. 

Most of the dances for the 2018-2019 school year have already been planned by the dance coordinating staff. The upcoming Homecoming dance will take place on Saturday evening of Homecoming weekend in the North Campus gym. The coordinating staff is working of having Sno Daze, which will be in February, at an off-campus location. The last dance of the year, Prom, which is for juniors and seniors, will be at the Landmark Center in downtown Saint Paul in mid-May. 

Head of Student Services and dance coordinator Julie Johnson learned a great deal from the first year of transition to the Mendota Heights Campus. 

“I think that everyone being flexible, having a positive attitude in the face of challenges, and focusing on being thankful for our many blessings is key to coming together as a community and making the most of our time together,” said Johnson.

Despite the issues the community faced, there were valuable lessons to be learned. 

“The Mendota campus, although very nice and welcoming, was not originally where any of us pictured our school year to be, so we all have had to be flexible throughout the school year, both last year and this year,” said Johnson

Despite the north campus now being the free location for the dances, the social interns are still planning on having dances off site. Prices on alternate dance locations can vary in price. 

“We more or less break even on the dances with the revenue from the ticket sales,” said Johnson. “We pay for the DJ, food, decorations and other incidental expenses that relate to holding a big social event. Any ticket sale revenue that exceeds the costs of the dances go towards the higher cost of the formal prom event or other social events we hold at school throughout the year,” she said.

Ticket prices for each dance has remained the same over more than 10 years. The price of the Back to School dance is $5 and $10 for the other dances if you buy your ticket in advance or $15 per ticket if you purchase the ticket at the door the evening of the dance. The cost associated for prom is covered for MA students within the activities fee in tuition for juniors and seniors.

Dances for the upcoming school year will be different than last years because of the availability of the North Campus. The most recent dance, Back to School Dance, was the first event for many back at the school since the explosion.

“This year’s back to school dance was really fun. There were lots of freshmen and sophomores there so it was nice to see everyone get together and feel included.  I loved how it was on the stage – it felt so authentic and personal. It was nice to kick off the year with a dance and hang out with my best friends,” said junior Dany Robinson.

Being back at Minnehaha north campus for an event was very refreshing for Robinson. 

“I feel like I’m revisiting my freshman year and all of the memories I made. It excites me for the future and reassures me that we will (hopefully this time next year) be back there full time. It’s an incredible feeling,” she said.

North Campus will now be the official site of the first three dances of the year with the Sno Daze and Prom dances being held at alternate locations away from North Campus.