Student Activities Director Lisa Hall expects this year’s prom to be more popular due to the interactive activities  which include creating giant bubbles, playing with sand on a rotating table and walking on a footbridge covered in fog—that the venue offers. “A lot of (students) are interested in more of the kinds of scientific or explorative exhibits that the Exploratorium has,” she said. “Students who might not otherwise attend prom if it was just a dinner (are) more likely to go because there are other activities that they can participate in.”

Hall also noted changes regarding COVID-19 guidelines. “Last year, we required (participants) to have copies of vaccines and boosters before being able to go to prom,” she said.“This year, that isn’t a requirement.” With these changes in mind, Dance Commissioner senior Adele Davis still expects the prom experience to be similar to that of previous years. “People expect the same things from prom every year, so as long as we stick to tradition, they’re going to be pretty happy about it,” she said. “Besides the location, everyone still goes on buses (and) there will be the same kind of food, so not many things have changed.”

The process that goes into selecting prom locations begins long before the start of the school year. “About two years in advance, we start looking at venues,” Hall said. “We work with an event planner who helps us choose some locations, and we try to rotate them just because the large majority of our juniors and our seniors attend prom both years.”

After that, Student Executive Council members narrow down the selections. “We bring in the dance commissioner and all of our current juniors and sophomores—maybe freshmen if it’s way far out—to choose which of these locations fit our needs,” Hall said. Davis elaborated upon the venue booking process. “The reason that the venues are considered and booked so far in advance is because of how competitive the bookings can become,” she said. “There are a bunch of schools in the same area all trying to get the same venues. The sooner you choose which one you would like to be at, then it’s more likely that they are actually available on the weekend and time you want.

Junior Angeline Hu is looking forward to this year’s prom. “I plan to just hang out with my friends,” she said. “That’s what I do at most dances—run around and talk to a lot of people. I think that’ll be pretty fun.”

Morales’ grandfather has played a crucial role in introducing him to the indigenous community. “I’m glad that my grandfather introduced the culture to me because now I see life differently,” he said. “I feel that if I didn’t have those teachings from him, I wouldn’t be the person I am today because his words of wisdom took me to another level of accepting what death is. I learned to appreciate who I am, who I can become and whom I can offer that same energy to.”

In one word, Morales described the indigenous community as a family. “We’re not biologically related, but it’s the form of ‘tequio’ (‘trabajo communal’ in Nahuatl), which is communal work where we gather together to share our love, energy and culture,” he said. “We’re all united.”

Being a part of the indigenous community also comes with a lot of responsibility. “As an indigenous, you’re representing your legacy,” Morales said. “You’re representing your ancestors because at one point, they couldn’t historically.”

In addition to the responsibilities that come with being indigenous, Morales is faced with cultural appropriation. For example, Morales wears macaw feathers because they resonate with him, but he has seen nonindigenous people wear them unknowingly. “Macaw feathers are colorful,” he said. “I’m pretty colorful, but I’m also natural. I only use natural colored feathers, but a lot of people will dye chicken feathers to make it seem like they’re part of something that they’re not.”

Seeing people disrespect his culture leaves Morales feeling disheartened. “I feel that I have failed the dreams that my ancestors had intended for me,” he said. “They wanted me to preserve the culture, but that can’t happen if people are just trying to copy how it’s done.”

As an indigenous person, Morales also recognizes the stereotypes that come with his identity. “As someone who is darker-skinned, my skin color plays a huge component in being indigenous,” he said. “We’re considered ‘savages and animals,’ in terms of colonizers or Spaniards. In some terms, I’m representing those stereotypes. But instead of taking the negativity, I’m taking the positive out of it. I’m proud of it.”

Morales wears jewelry such as jade and jaguar necklaces, which contain medicine, as part of his indigenous culture. “At school, at work and in public, I always carry around my medicine,” he said. “The medicine is not something physical, but it’s my energy that I place within my jewelry.” Animals such as hawks, deer and jaguars are symbols of his ancestors and indigenous community. “Sometimes just walking to school, I see those animals, which takes me to another level of feeling more centered,” Morales said. “Deep down, either my ancestors, my creator or even just a certain energy is protecting me. I know who is going to be there even if I’m not 100% ready to start the day.”

Morales’ grandfather introduced him to traditional indigenous dancing at a time when he didn’t have a connection to the community. Aztec dancing became an important aspect of his life two years ago when he joined Calpulli Tonalehqueh, a dance group that performs at ceremonies throughout California. “Dancing centers me,” he said. “It reminds me how precious and sacred I am but also honors my body and limits.” His dance costume consists of a long fancy headdress (“copilli” in Nahuatl), instruments made from wood and rattles (“ayoyotes” in Nahuatl). “The ayoyotes are a key instrument that we wrap around our ankles,” Morales said. “Without saying a prayer with our mouth or our words, we use it with our dance and our steps.”

Aztec dancing, however, is more than just specific movements: Each step and move has significance. “Every step that we take is a word,” Morales said. “Every move that we do is essentially a phrase to tell a story.” For Morales, Aztec dancing is not only a hobby, but also a way to tell stories. “Our culture is something that should be appreciated and honored,” he said. “There’s so much beauty in the Mexica and Totonaca cultures, but so much hardship has led us here.”

Eventually, Morales would like to share his indigenous culture and energy with the Gunn community. Since his cultures and traditions are sacred to him, though, he has mixed feelings about showcasing them. “It’s scary because I’m going to be vulnerable,” Morales said. “I’d love to spread my medicine to people, but I hope they can accept it, too, rather than ignore it.”

Girls golf team co-captain senior Athina Chen has high hopes for improvement throughout the golf season. “We have done well in some tournaments, but we’d like to do a little bit better in the second half of the season,” she said. “We’re just trying to shoot our best every time and keep doing well.”

2. Cross country

Cross country team captain junior Paige Yun shares how the team’s season has progressed. “I think that the season’s gone really well,” Yun said. “We have a lot of new members, so we’re just getting them used to the courses we run, since it’s our first time back in over 20 months. It’s been really exciting to go back and race the courses we raced freshman year. We want to keep training, getting faster and making personal records.”

3. Girls water polo

Girls water polo team captain senior Siham Arsalane outlines the rest of the season. “The season is going pretty well,” Arsalane said. “We’re looking to compete in the league championship, and then hopefully we’re going to get into the Central Coast Sectionals (CCS). We’ve reached the halfway mark, and we have gathered together to try and improve on what we didn’t do at the beginning of the season.”

4. Girls volleyball

Girls volleyball team captain senior Micaela Leong expresses her worries and hopes for the rest of the season. “The season hasn’t gone as great as we were hoping, but we’re looking to pick it up,” Leong said. “We’re looking to play our hardest against some of the bigger teams that have more experience than we do.”

5. Football

Football team captain senior Eric Wang reflects on the season so far. “[The season] has gone pretty well,” Wang said. “We lost one game. We’re still 3-1, so I’ll take it. We haven’t really met my expectations, but a lot of people have been stepping up. For myself, I just want to do better. As a team, I want us to go undefeated in the league and make it to playoffs.”

6. Girls tennis

Girls tennis team captain senior Elise Naddell explains the challenges her team has faced through the season. “I think the team is doing really great,” Naddell said. “We had a couple injuries in the beginning of the season for some of our top players, which hindered us for practice matches. Now that we’re really going into the season and playing league matches, we’re doing a lot better. This year, we’re really trying to boost communication and teamwork, especially because tennis is an individual sport and it’s harder to do that. Also, we had a whole year online when not many people were on the team, so we’re trying to bring that teamwork back.”

7. Boys water polo

Boys water polo team senior captain Isaac Zelkha describes his expectations for the team. “So far, I’m pretty impressed,” Zelkha said. “We’re 5-0 in the league, and we’re looking to go undefeated and place highly in CCS. I think that that’s possible, since so far we’ve beaten every team we’ve played.”

8. Dance

Dance team captain senior McKenna Englhardt is excited to be back in person again. “The season’s been really good so far,” Englhardt said. “It’s exciting to be back in-person and to have live performances because last year we could only put together videos on our own. Prepping for Homecoming week is always a lot of work because we do a lot of dances, but it’s been really fun this year. For the rest of the season, we will be doing some competitions.”

For most of their events throughout this year, the dance team has performed at sports games and rallies. However, the athletes are now preparing for a national competition, their biggest event of the year. For the competition, the team will use the same routine as they performed for the night rally in October. “Right now we’re working as a group to clean our dance and make sure we know it, since we’re hoping to go to regionals and nationals,” freshman Adelaide Phillips said.

The dance team members are excited to compete together at nationals. “It’s a fun experience because we are all just hanging out,” Junior Sanna Vedrine said. “We get ready together, we do each other’s makeup [and] hair, and then we all dance together.”

One of the goals the team has for the future is to choreograph more efficiently. “A lot of the time, we end up just talking and hanging out and having fun when we should be choreographing,” junior Avery Lythcott-Haims said.

Dancer, pianist, and Youtube sensation Hannah Huang started dancing at only four years old at Pacific Ballet Academy. “Dance has been a part of my life for so long it is crazy to try to think of my life without it,” Huang said.

Dancing, however, was not always a passion for Huang. “I used to want to quit ballet and I used to beg my mom to let me quit but with time I realized that I really enjoyed it, and I am really happy she didn’t let me quit,” Huang said. “As a little kid it felt hard trying to achieve what my teachers wanted, which is the mix of perfect technique and artistry. There is no way to really achieve that perfection so there were times when I wanted to just stop reaching for it.”

Huang believes that striving for improvement created a lot of challenges, but working to overcome those setbacks  also helped her grow as a person. “As a dancer, there are very hard physical demands that you have to meet to be able to advance in things like ballet,” she said. “I remember when I was younger I felt that I was not flexible enough, so I would stretch every single day to get more flexible. I also constantly work out outside of ballet class so I can improve my strength and do the really hard combinations.”

Last year, Huang started dancing in Youtube videos with Stanford dancers covering kpop groups;one of those videos has reached around 55 thousand views. “For the video, I had to learn the part of one of the people in the kpop group and then recreate it and perform it with the entire group,” Huang said. “Creating the video was not as stressful as I thought it would be because they are not just doing one take; [they] are doing multiple takes. Then you have practices beforehand and practices with the videographer so you feel really prepared.”

Huang also started playing the piano at age four, though unlike ballet, she was passionate about it from the very beginning. “My older sister played piano, and I always heard her playing and thought it was so cool,” Huang said. “I would go to the piano after she played and just bang on the keys, and then I begged my parents to give me piano lessons. The teacher originally didn’t want to take me, but he saw how much I wanted it so he started teaching me anyway.”

Huang believes she started to really love playing the piano when she got a new teacher that looked past the mechanics and made her delve further into the emotion and the complexity of the piece. “I think that I love playing the piano so much more now because expressing the music can be really challenging,” she said. “Just playing the notes or having good technique is one thing, but making sure that what I am playing sounds like music and not just notes is exciting.”

Similarly to dance, Huang decided that she wanted to share her work on the piano, so she started doing piano covers and uploading them to her Instagram at least once a week. “When I play a cover, I am mostly doing it by ear. I don’t have any sheet music in front of me,” she said. “Figuring out how to play some of my favorite songs is so entertaining that I can do it for hours on end.”

Huang believes that both dance and piano have made a significant impact on her life. “From dance I learned how hard you have to work to be able to advance in anything and piano has definitely taught me to listen to people and music in a totally different way,” she said. “I wouldn’t trade either of those for the world.”

So you’re afraid that things are gonna take a bad turn and nothing is going to go down as you hoped? Just remember that the worst thing that can stem from a well-intentioned asking is rejection and maybe some teasing from your friends. You’ll get over it, and in a month, you’ll shake your head and laugh about it. After all, we’ve all had our fair share of embarrassing moments at one point or another. Rest assured, no one will remember in a few weeks anyway. Keep in mind that there are multiple askings per day as the dance draws near, so the spotlight will not be on you for that long. The ways to ask someone to homecoming are limitless, so there’s no pressure to do something you don’t feel comfortable with. (For example, if big crowds make you nervous, you can ask them privately.)   

So now that you’re on board and have realized that your fears were unwarranted, you’re ready to prepare for the asking of the century. But, who to ask? Personally, I would recommend you ask someone that you are friends (or more) with—or at least someone who’s not a total stranger.

Homecoming can be an opportunity for a new relationship to bloom. If you’re on the more reserved side, it may be a good idea to indirectly ask before making big arrangements. You could ask their friend to subtly inquire whether or not you would be turned down. Who you go with can play a big role in your night, so choose someone you’ll have a good time with.

The truth is that this topic should be of concern to anyone, regardless of their interest in taking a special someone to the dance. This is about not taking some things too seriously: not thinking “why?” but instead “why not?”

Most of us only have four homecoming dances, which is why it is important to make the most out of each one — time’s ticking! When it comes to these things, you will never know unless you try.

Simply put, don’t be afraid to ask someone to the homecoming dance. There’s no pressure to go with someone, and absolutely nothing wrong with going alone. But, if you do have someone in mind, don’t allow any fears or self-doubt to get the better of you. So, with that said, take a risk this October. Don’t hold back! Have fun with it, and make this homecoming one for the ages.

For Senior Bianca Marconcini,  dance is a chance to express her emotions and thoughts through the medium of her body. “Dance is all about expressing a message and that message goes hand in hand with the music,” she said “I push myself to focus on making the auditory music visual through dance.”  

Sophomore Ben Seetho emphasizes the autonomy that dance offers. “You have a lot of freedom to choose how you personally interpret the music,” he said, “There are no rules to limit your movements.”

However, dance is more than storytelling in motion; It’s a sport as well. “For me dance is an art form, not a sport. But, it is equally physically strenuous and demanding, just like all professional sports”, Marconcini said. “There’s an extreme amount of training and conditioning everyday.”

Like any sport, dance requires flexibility, strength, endurance and stamina. Additionally, there is the added pressure to maintain aesthetics.  “It’s like running a mile but you have to look pretty while doing it.” Chin said., “Everyday in practise, dancers push themselves to their limits.  “You use muscles you’ve never heard of to achieve what you need to achieve.”

Not only is dance physically exhausting and effective at burning calories but  it also tests an athlete’s mental capability. As beginners, dancers work hard to make themselves comfortable dancing in public. “The hardest part for me, because I’m still a beginner, was letting go of my self-consciousness, ” Seetho said.

 In practice, dancers memorize their dance sequences, committing each step to memory so that the movements flow effortlessly during a performance. Dancers constantly work on their steps, focusing on technique so that everything is on point, ultimately getting to a point where they can improvise to music they’ve never heard.  

Despite the pressure, dance is personally rewarding.  Chin is proud of the lessons she has learnt as a dancer.  “Dance has taught me discipline and responsibility,” she said,  “Every single team member relies on you and you rely on every single member.” She found a community in her dance team. ”You spend hours together working on an art and building your strength,” she said, “I grew up with my team.”

Gunn Student Executive Council (SEC) revealed this year’s prom location, San Francisco City Hall, at lunch today in Bow Gym. Prom will take place on April 16 at the historic site, which is in the heart of Civic Center Plaza. The iconic landmark is famous for its elegant architecture, rich history, grand staircase and exquisite lighting.

During the dance, students will be able to take part in a number of activities apart from dancing. “We’ll have a bunch of casino games, so there will be blackjack tables, craps and roulette,” Dance Commissioner senior Radhika Ranganathan said.

Photo opportunities will be available throughout the day, starting with a photo booth in the staff lounge at Gunn. At San Francisco City Hall, there will be a photo booth, caricature booth and flipbook booth, which will combine a series of photos into a moving picture.

Treasurer senior Kellen Liu adds that the diverse activities will give all students something to look forward to. “We really wanted everybody to have something to do this year,” he said. “If dancing isn’t your thing, you’re still going to have a blast.”

Some changes have been implemented to improve the prom experience. There will be no set table assignments, and dinner will not be served in a formal restaurant style. Instead, students will be able to pick up food and eat anywhere around the venue. “It’s going to be hors d’oeuvres—basically finger food,” Ranganathan said. “It doesn’t require people to sit down to eat, [so] they can walk around and mingle.” Students will have a variety of food choices, and dessert options like chocolate fountains will be offered.

Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased in the Student Activities Center  or on the Gunn webstore. Until March 18, tickets are $90 with an ASB card and $100 without or for guests. Prices rise by $10 after March 18, and ticket sales end on March 31 in the SAC and on April 6 online.

Watch the 2016 prom video by SEC Videographers seniors Yui Sasajima and Lin-Lin Liu here.