Aliso Niguel High School held its Winter Formal dance this year on Saturday, Jan. 18 from 7-10 p.m. Many students enjoyed themselves at this event, but some thought there were a few things that could be improved.
The venue was AV Irvine, which is only a few miles from the school. Most students were glad that the venue was close by since last year’s venue was much further. A lot of students ended up going to Irvine Spectrum before the dance to eat dinner.
Sophia Teigiser (10), a student at ANHS, said, “I thought that the venue was very spacious, elegant and classy.”
The venue had multiple floors and rooms available to students. There was an outdoor area where students could grab snacks, and there was also a coffee bar with hot drinks. There was a main dance floor and different areas throughout the venue to sit down and chat with friends, which many students utilized.
On the second level, there were various games and a balcony that looked over the dance floor on the first level. Students enjoyed how open the venue was. Some students were frustrated that they couldn’t take drinks upstairs, because they either had to finish their drinks or throw them away.
There were also refreshment stations throughout the main floor of the venue, with water and pink lemonade available to drink in case students were thirsty. This was a big hit, and many students found themselves at the refreshment table at least once throughout the dance.
Many students were happy overall with the music that was played at the dance.
Teigiser said, “My favorite part about the dance was the nostalgic 2010s hits that the DJ would play that had everyone singing and dancing along.”
Some students wished there was a stricter dress code since the dance is technically “formal”. Some students wore short dresses, while others wore full-length dresses.
Even though there were games available, there were only a few, and students had to go upstairs to play them. Many students wished there were more activities, especially on the first floor.
Ryan Hadiono (11), a student at ANHS, said, “Winter formal had a nice venue but there was a distinct lack of activities.”
Some students recall there being more activities in past years. This year, there was a room filled with balloons, which supposedly used to be a room for karaoke.
Another complaint that some students made was that security wasn’t able to hold any items for students. Some kids had bags with them that they couldn’t bring because no one was able to hold them.
Overall, students really enjoyed the venue and the wide variety of music that the DJ was playing. The dance would have been even better if there were just a few more activities for students to participate in with their friends.
