Masquerade Ball receives rave reviews

The Masquerade Ball, the most important part of the annual Winterfest weekend, had a lower turnout than expected. But even so, “It went very well,” said junior Brian Goldhagen.Goldhagen was one of two co-chairs of the event. “That’s everything from planning to organizing to running the event,” he said. “The people who went seemed to like it a lot.”Sophomore Kenny Thierer agreed. “I had a lot of fun, the music was awesome,” he said. “I loved the dancing and it was a friendly crowd of people.”However, Thierer was surprised by the low turnout. “I expected more people to be there,” he said. Junior Ilana Kaplan-Shain, a member of Campus Activities Board who helped decorate for the dance and chief of staff of the Students Association, agreed that the turnout was lower than expected, due to unfortunate circumstances. “The turnout was about half what they were hoping for,” she said. “It was due to the weather, and because of conflicts – the track team had a formal that night, and the Midnight Ramblers competition ended later than expected so.” Those who did come were happy with the dance. “I think CAB did a great job,” Kaplan-Shain said. “I was very impressed by the amount of work they did, not just organizing, but setting up.”I was also impressed by how some people went all out,” she added, referring to a girl who got into the masquerade theme by wearing a mask that completely concealed her identity. The live band incorporated breaks into their performance by having a DJ take over. This provided a change from otherwise unrelieved jazz music. “I thought it would be all swing, and I was happy to hear stuff like people normally dance to,” Kaplan-Shain said. The Masquerade Ball also causes an increase in interest in the Ballroom Dance club. “The ball does bring members to the club,” said senior “Bee” Ruangsuwana. However, many of the new members don’t stay. “I wish they would stay because there’s so much more they can learn,” Ruangsuwana said. Reporting by Cyrus Levesque and Alissa Miller.