Break out your neon leotards and sweatbands and blast your favorite 90’s playlist in preparation for Dance of the Decades on Saturday, Feb. 9. The annual spring dance is back with a 90’s workout theme, but students are welcome to arrive in the fashion of any decade they please — from The Flintstones to The Jetsons.
Canva graphic created by Gabi DiPaulo.
This year, the dance has changed venues from The Crystal Ballroom to The Pure Space, an urban event venue in The Pearl District. Senior Monica Perez, one of the Campus Program Board dance coordinators, said they chose the new venue because it can hold more students and is located in a more isolated area with less traffic.
CPB will be selling 1,600 tickets beginning Feb. 4. Procrastinators should get to the ticket booth in the Commons quickly — tickets for the Fright Night dance last fall sold out within two days, and this dance is anticipated to sell out even faster. To buy a ticket, students are required to bring their Student ID and download the Corq app on their phones.
Appetizers and a photobooth will be found around the dance floor, and DJ Clint Kuper will be there spinning out throwback and modern hits. A cash and card bar is also available for those 21 and over.
On the night of the dance, buses will shuttle dance-goers to and from The Pure Space every fifteen minutes, beginning at 8:45 p.m. and ending at 11:30 p.m. The buses will depart from Beauchamp, where students will go through security.
Junior CPB dance coordinator Jillian Giorgio said that typically, the first wave of students to arrive tend to avoid the dance floor.
“There’s always that one group of friends who’s like, ‘This is my song!’” Giorgio said. “And they run out there. Those are our favorite type of people.”
Sophomores Quinn Anderson, Morgen Dempsey, CT Mayne and Emma Finney break a sweat in their 90's workout gear.
Students must have their ticket and ID to enter the venue, and guests are required to show a government issued ID upon entry. Bags larger than a clutch are not permitted. If students opt for alternative transportation such as Uber, they will be screened at the venue. Public Safety officers will be found at the Beauchamp checkpoint as well as the venue, and RAs will be on duty in the dorms for the safety of returning students.
“We just want people to have fun, be safe and use a Pilot Buddy system,” Perez said.
So remember to snag your ticket early, raid your local thrift store and binge your favorite selection of John Cusack movies in preparation for a night to remember.
They're ready. Are you?
Gabi DiPaulo is a reporter for The Beacon. She can be reached at dipaulo21@up.edu.
