EVERY year, the Latinos in Action program hosts its annual Dia de los Muertos dance. The presidency hopes to see more people at these dances in the coming years, encouraging Lancers to go out for a night of fun.
“My role was to ensure that all the other presidency members fully did their job to make the dance successful. Something I did take on was figuring out backup plans when something didn’t work out. When our photo booth vendor cancelled on us at the last minute, I came up with the idea of buying Polaroid film so we would have photos to share,” Pryzma Alvarez (12), LIA’s president, said.
“Our biggest goal was to make sure that everyone had a good time. This was also the first year that we didn’t have a haunted house. Over the years, we have seen a decline in students attending the dance, but this dance is a really good way to de-stress after the first quarter. But overall, it’s just a fun time to relax and have a good time,” Alvarez said.
Giovani Nava (12), the LIA historian, manages the social media and photographs. “My role in the dance was to help set up, but also to document the whole dance. I was taking photographs of students and also recording what was happening in the dance. I think the dance was really successful. We had a couple of ups and downs; some things didn’t go as planned, but I think we executed it really well and succeeded to the best of our abilities. My favorite part of the dance was being able to see all the cool costumes, and all the students being able to show out,” Nava said.
Dia de los Muertos holds significant meaning for Hispanic cultures, honoring the deceased and guiding them back home; sharing this significance through dances is one way to teach others about Hispanic traditions.
Jaqueline Lopez (12), vice president of social, had the most important role in the dance. She’s in charge of all the big events in the program. She planned the Dia de los Muertos dance and ran it by the presidency. “I assigned groups, gave them an assigned role, and a designated place where they needed to be. We set up the night before, went back the next day, and finished any small details,” Lopez said.
“Planning a school dance comes with big responsibilities, including contracting vendors, DJs, and getting things approved, etc. “I think the dance could’ve gone better. I do see work I could improve on when planning big events. After the dance, I surveyed students to give feedback on, which really helped me as well,” Lopez said. “I loved when the DJ played a specific song, and everyone just went to the dance floor and had the best time. I feel like this year’s decorations stood out much more. Everyone had their own creativity when I assigned them something to decorate. I also added games for students who didn’t feel like dancing,” Lopez concluded. Jaqueline also hopes next year’s VP of social takes the advice she offered to improve future dances.
