Inspired by the suspenseful and exotic missions of British spy James Bond, this year’s Winter Formal seeks to mimic the elegant, luxurious theme found among the various “James Bond” films. Winter Formal will be hosted on Saturday, February 8 at the Ovation Square in Long Beach with activities including desserts, a live DJ and much more.
The decision to host Formal at the Ovation was brought to life more spontaneously than of the past years. Before the cultural shift marked by Covid-19, Jama Maxfield, the advisor of the Associated Student Body (ASB), “would take a couple of students and [they] would go on a venue search.” Both she and “ Dr. Ramirez … have been to almost every single venue in LA with groups of kids to check things out, but post COVID… things are really expensive, so a lot of the venues that [ASB has] liked and used in the past have priced [them] out.”
Despite the variety of venues available within the school’s budget now slimmer than the variety available in past years, the planning and efforts that go into executing these memorable events remain constant.
The process begins “months in advance, usually talking with our entire class,” senior and ASB President Nick Kouzmanoff said. “We think about what has worked in the past, and try to bring in fresh ideas. The process involves narrowing down ideas based on how they would work with the venue and engagement from students.”
Taking inspiration from the class discussion based on what students want and seek from the dances, Maxfield looks at venues that align with both the interests of the students and the feasibility of the ideas.
“I usually look at venues and then send the Special Events kids the choices, but we book them over a year in advance. This venue was chosen pretty last minute,” Maxfield said.
Despite the hurried decision of hosting Formal at the Ovation, the characteristics of the spaces used to host school dances follow a parallel set of guidelines to ensure that these nights will have the foundation to be unforgettable.
“We try to find something that’s relatively close; we don’t want something that’s over 45 minutes away. We also need it to be in an area that’s safe,” Maxfield said.
Proximity has the potential to encourage or deter students from partaking in events, which is why there is a great amount of attention diverted towards these factors. In addition to these important aspects, ASB continues striving to make each event better than the previous ones.
“One of the main things that we are focused on is making sure that it was a closed-off, tight enough space that it would feel like that it would encourage people to always be dancing,” ASB historian Lauren Kim said. “This year’s Winter Formal is different because … of the emphasis that we want on people dancing, being active and having fun instead of just walking around the venue.”
Additionally, as new trends have cycled in and out of popularity dancing seems to now be something to complement the night—not the main focus.
“Not everybody likes to dance, so I want it to be something where there’s enough for you guys to do if you don’t want to dance,” Maxfield said. “Kids don’t dance now the way that they used to. If they danced the way they used to, I don’t know if we would see the need for something more to do, but you can’t mosh for three straight hours.”
The style of dancing isn’t the only change that has come about. With trends constantly evolving, change is not foreign to the events Maxfield and ASB work to put on.
“Back when I first started with ASB, we did the dance and maybe we would have a photo booth and then at Prom we would always do the gambling tables,” Maxfield said. “But probably in the last five or six years we’ve started adding things like the airbrush tattoo artists, the caricature artists, things that will be fun and easy for people to get.”
Despite the obvious changes to school dances, ASB works to choose interactive themes for their dances that students will recognize and be able to enjoy.
“This year, Formal is bound to be memorable for students because of its ‘007’ theme, which brings an action-packed feel to the club atmosphere we are hosting the event at. The addition of casino gaming tables is a unique feature that ties into the Bond aesthetic, giving students an experience more than just the dance floor,” Maxfield said.
It’s clear that dances are an integral part of the unique high school experience.
“When you’re in high school you only get four [dances.] You will never have anything like this again; you can always rent a party bus. You’ll rent them when you turn 21. You’ll rent them in college so enjoy the moment with your classmates because, these Formals—there’s four of them and that’s it.”
