Cobb Reporter

Lovett School issued the following announcement on Dec. 2. 

One question that has troubled the minds of Lovett students for years is why there is no homecoming dance (the street dance doesn’t quite conjure up what most people think of when it comes to a school dance). Beyond that, why are there so few dances here, period, and was there ever a time when Lovett held dances in the gymnasium like the ones in Back to the Future, Stranger Things, and almost every John Hughes movie. 

I stopped by the senior lounge to ask some seniors whether they wish there were more dances, and they all said they did. One of them said that getting your heart broken at a dance should be a “rite of passage.“ 

Freshman Camden Nalley said dances are “a fun to gather and socialize since we don’t have cars.”

Not everyone agrees. Junior Mary Hubbard is fine with the number of dances we have because they “add a lot of stress and prom is enough.” But Junior Liddy Lynch, who was standing right next to Mary, said she wishes there were more dances where guys ask girls.

I was curious about the history of dances at Lovett, and our current dance deficiency, so I headed to the library to talk to Mrs. Martin, the librarian, who took me into the archive room with all of the yearbooks going back to the very early 1900s. It was so interesting to be able to look through all of the different photos throughout the years, and see how we have developed over time. The pictures went from black and white to color, and in some yearbooks, only the dance photos were in color while the rest of the books were in black and white, almost as if to highlight how dull life is when we’re not boogying down in a gymnasium.  

I also decided to go visit Lovett’s Director of Alumni Engagement, Mrs. Kauffman, who also has years of institutional knowledge. She pulled up more information on the computer and I got a lot more information. 

After meeting with Mrs. Kauffman and looking through many different yearbooks, I found that Lovett’s first graduating class was in 1962. During their time at Lovett, they had a Thanksgiving Dance, Christmas Dance, Homecoming, Sadie Hawkins, and May Ball dance. That’s six dances. Crazy. I know. 

A lot of these dances were funded by clubs, grades, or parents. 

Mothers Club, for example, held a lot of the Thanksgiving/ Christmas dances. This group, consisting as you might guess of Lovett moms, raised money and organized these events for their kids. 

Moving through the ’70s and early ’80s, once again they had a May Ball dance for the Junior and Senior classes. This dance took place in different spots depending on the year. 

In 1975, the junior class raised money to have an off-campus dance by selling snacks. Their efforts paid off, as they were able to hold a dance at the Ansley Golf Club and hire hard rock bands that lit up the night.

In 1976, they transformed the Lovett gym into a tropical paradise, decorating it with bamboo and paper flowers. At the dance, they listened to an Atlanta-based band named Mother’s Finest as well as a country-rock trio called Grits. 

In 1980, the May Ball took place at Dunfey’s Royal Coach and had a “roaring twenties” theme The band that played was named Vision’s Track Four.

Things got even fancier with the 1984 dance at the Fox Theatre! The Juniors once again raised the money to make this happen.  This was one of the best proms to ever be thrown. They chose the first African American May Queen, Miss Gwen Matthews, which was a highlight of the night for many students. Following that was the senior leadout held by all of the seniors. This was memorable because it was their last dance at Lovett and they wanted to make it special.

In the 1990s, Lovett switched the name of the May Ball to Prom, which has continued until today. 

To answer the big question,  “Was there ever a homecoming dance?”  Yearbooks from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s say there was.  It was usually thrown the night before the big game. They would hold it in the Lovett Gym and have activities for everyone to play. 

In 1993, the Homecoming dance theme was “Disco on the Dragons.” It was held in the Lovett gym with a DJ and disco lights. During the dance, everyone moved outside to play games such as Dizzy- Izzy, water balloon toss, tug-of-war, and musical chairs. 

After 1993, they changed the homecoming dance to street dance to be more inclusive, more formal, and have more activities. My dad, who went to Lovett for all four years of high school and graduated in 1997, had the Sadie Hawkins dance (which is now PDC) and Prom. 

It is crazy to think of how many dances there used to be. Of course, Covid-19 impacted many dances, and we are just getting back to being in big settings like that, but perhaps we can somehow find a way to have an old-fashioned dance in the gym, complete with paper flowers, bamboo, and our generation’s version of Mother’s Finest.

If not, sophomore Tyler Hong thinks the Street Dance is fine. When I asked him why, he said, “Because you can jump over stuff.”

Original source can be found here.

Source: Lovett School