Dazzling lights, a skyline backdrop, and NYC-inspired street desserts will greet attendees at “Night in New York,” BOHS’s first winter dance in 14 years — at the Yorba Linda Community Center on Feb 3.
Megan Duprey, senior and ASB dance commissioner, organized the event with the help of ASB. Their inspiration for the theme was “Times Square and city lights.”
To make the semi-formal event “everything a kid has ever dreamed of,” Duprey and her team hired a DJ, planned casino-style games, enlisted Orange Country’s The Dough Life to provide treats like churros, donuts, and ice cream, and assembled a New York City skyline backdrop for students to take photos in front of.
This is the first winter dance held by BOHS since 2009.
The 14 year hiatus was partly due to funds being diverted to the more heavily-attended Homecoming and prom dances, and partly due to the financial burden of three formal dances a year on students and families. However, requests from students to add a dance to the winter calendar — 32 weeks pass between Homecoming and prom — inspired the return.
In response to the requests, Duprey convinced ASB to bring the event back ” to experience the same [activities] that other schools get to experience.”
For some students, the excitement for the dance starts well before the event begins.
Elizabeth Choi, sophomore, said, “I like dressing up, getting ready, and taking pictures, and this [dance] gives you an excuse this time of year to do that.”
“It’s kind of a tradition to get ready with your friends before and do each other’s makeup and help each other with hair,” Sophia Han, senior, said. Han and her friends, seniors Ella Na and Natalie Kim, will spend the day together preparing for the evening.
The dance is not exclusive to BOHS students. Guest passes are available for purchase at the activities office, allowing students from other districts to attend. “I’m bringing my church friends to a Brea dance for the first time [and] I’m excited to show them what it’s like, excited to hang out with [them],” Evelyn Kim, junior, said.
Duprey is thrilled that a long-time BOHS tradition is returning. “If there’s one dance [throughout] all of high school that our students remember, I really hope that this will be the one.”
Tickets will remain available for purchase until sold out, with sales operating on a first-come, first-serve basis.
