High School Underground: A Dance to Remember

Graduation for Santa Cruz High students is fast approaching and everyone at school can practically taste summer in the air. Before all of that however, comes one of the most important landmarks in high school life: Prom.

Prom, complete with cheesy theme and breathalizers. I wonder how much has really changed. Certainly the dresses didn't always look as though they were painted on, and maybe there was a lot less dirty dancing on the floor and even less security around the dance. One thing though must be the same: the irrational nerves and fear that has always plagued guys in high school- asking someone to go. 

This was hard enough when all you had to do was take a breath, maybe put on some deodorant and just throw your invitation out there before you have a chance to second guess yourself.

Now, however, there is a whole new standard of asking someone. First off, you have to be adorable, second memorable, and third you have to be creative. For some reason a girl feels slighted if someone comes up to her and hands her a simple "Will you go to prom with me?"

Now you have to make a big sign and put it on their car during school, or carve it somewhere romantic where they can stumble upon it and scream "Yes! Yes! A million times yes!" The issue is you have to be better than a lot of the other ways people do it. For instance you could set up an elaborate scavenger hunt for your girlfriend (thank you, thank you very much) or, in the case of my brother's girlfriend, have a flash mob.

My brother's girlfriend decided to change things up and ask him to prom this year, since he had had to ask her all the other times. So she decided to go all out.

Being a dancer and having a mom who is a choreographer, a flash mob seemed like the logical next step. So weeks before the surprise dance would go down we were in the studio of the No Limits Dance Company in Aptos, practicing our moves for the big day. It was decided the mob would be happening in downtown Santa Cruz, just outside of O'Neill's.

So last Saturday, May 5th, at 4:15 p.m., a casual downtowner might have seen some kids hiding behind a couple of pillars, or crouched suspiciously behind the big directory sign, or even across the street pretending to be looking up movie times.

But at 4:30, they would have seen these same kids run into the center of the area outside of that wetsuit shop as music began to boom. When my brother walked up he had no idea what sort of synchronized dancing monster was waiting for him. Complete with a big sign that simply stated "PROM?" and his girlfriend bursting through, lip-syncing to the music that seemed to come from nowhere. After he said yes, the crowd dispersed as though nothing had happened.

That might be a little different than what people used to do, or maybe not. How did you ask your date to prom? Tell me about it in the comments!