Oct 17 2023
Article #2 – FINAL DRAFT
Morningside’s Spanish Club saw an increase in participation at their 2nd annual “Morningside Se Mueve” dance, the last of its kind held on campus. The event was held last week, November 28th at Buhler Rohlfs Outdoor Performance Center.
While last year’s dance was successful, there were many positive tweaks and changes this year. One change was the timing of the event. Stephanie Meza, Spanish Clubs’s president, said, “Last year’s dance was at the end of February, and it was on a Friday, meaning it was very cold and lots of people either already had plans or were going home.”
Another change from last year’s dance was the location of the dance, moving from Yockey to the outdoor performance center. Both Meza and Jennifer Morales, the Vice President of Spanish Club, said they believed this was a positive change, reflecting that it promoted better visibility for the event and that the club was also able to sell concessions.
Senior Emily Chicoine validated this point, noting that the first thing she noticed was the liveliness of the event and the music. She said that the people and the overall vibe looked encouraging and inclusive. She noticed the music when she came out of the library after studying for a bit.
The result of these changes led to an increase in participation, with both Meza and Morales saying that there were definitely more people in attendance than last year, with Morales adding that, “…this time there were more students than staff.”
Even with the increase in attendance, the dance didn’t come without some setbacks along the way, in this case, rainy weather. Rain earlier that morning put puddles all over the outdoor area.
The rain setback was difficult because it forced the club to decide whether to risk low attendance due to poor weather circumstances or risk low attendance due to last-minute changes in plans. Meza mentioned, “We deliberated as a team with our advisor, and all came to a final decision of postponing.” Morales added that with the extra week of time, the team was able to have “a little breather” and “gave them a bit more time to organize it [the dance].”
Meza and Morales also mentioned future changes to next year’s planning, including the ins and outs of the photo booth and concessions as well as planning better for attendance and weather. Timing has also improved from last year but still has a lot of room for improvement.
Another thing I wanted to ask passersby is if they knew that the dance is currently the last remaining dance event held on campus. This was a fact that I was not aware of either, but something that the Spanish Club mentioned during their allocation meeting for Student Government. Chicoine, as well as many other attendees, mentioned that they were not aware of this fact. After thinking for a bit, Chicoine said that she couldn’t think of another event like that that’s held annually.
In this way, the annual dance seemed to function as something greater than just a get-together for the Spanish Club. Morales mentioned that her main inspiration for the dance was to create an event that is “able to have people from different backgrounds to enjoy music.”
Meza added to this, saying,
“The inspiration for the dance was the dances I would go to with my family because I was homesick then and wanted to have a prom-like dance in college.”