This past Saturday, August 26, marked the first of many Rosary-Servite dances. The Welcome Back Dance, happening directly after the Freshman Welcome Picnic, brought all the usual hype of a high school dance: electro DJ music with a tasteful amount of beat-drops, a refreshingly delicious Kona Ice truck, and the perfect amount of awkward high school interaction. The space theme brought in an additional aspect of fun to the equation, resulting in an impressively decorated Rosary gym filled with blow-up planets and glow in the dark lighting, which really helped to set the mood.
As the dance went on, it was fun to see freshmen grow more comfortable expressing themselves on the dance floor (this comfortability was especially seen whenever Pitbull came on), which led to some exciting dance circles and even an eventual visitation from four space guests!
When asked about his experience at his second official Welcome Back Dance, Servite student Gavin Barnard ’26 shared: “My favorite part of the dance was getting to hangout with friends and catch up after a long summer.” Because the Welcome Back Dance is so close to the start of the school year, it offers a great opportunity for both incoming students and returners to reunite and socialize with their classmates, especially after an eventful Summer or proximity issues, and this encouraged a large turnout this year. Rosary sophomore Gianna Sorensen agreed: “This dance was more fun in terms of how many people went and a lot of people were dancing.”
Senior Isabella Montano was excited for this year’s dance, and she especially showed off her moves on the dance floor. Isabella commented: “My go-to move is ‘Rasputin’ or any ‘Just Dance’ routine I have memorized – they’re so much fun!” And those moves led Isabella to the center of a couple dance circles – a very popular aspect of almost all Rosary Servite dances.
Finally, something unique to this year’s dance was the four special guests that crashed the party. First emerging during the “Cupid Shuffle,” and again periodically as the dance went on, two astronauts and two aliens made their way onto the dance floor to party along with the students. Although originally bringing a lot of confusion, these visitors became popular fast, posing for several paparazzi photos and dominating the dance circle before saying their goodbyes and disappearing back into space.
Overall, the Welcome Back Dance was a success, full of socialization and dancing that sets the tone of excitement for Homecoming and the rest of the dances to come for the 2023-2024 school year.