We all know how dreary school events were last year. 

There were no sports, no games, no dances or no performances. 

There was no anything. 

But now back at school, Marian Catholic will be able to host our Winter Ball this year. Winter Ball replaced the old Turnabout dance. 

The Spartan Star spoke to Mrs. Clifford, the Dean of Women at Marian Catholic about the upcoming dance. Through that conversation, it was clear that her biggest hope for the dance is that it might bring a sense of normalcy – some thrills during the season’s chills!

Winter Ball will take place Saturday, March 19 at the Serbian Social Center in Lansing. Tickets are on sale now at $35 and include access to snacks and pop. Tickets are available to all students and their guests to attend. Masks are required.

When it comes to addressing safety concerns, Clifford reassured The Star that this would be a priority.

“[Winter Ball] is going to be our test whether we can do this. At the prom last year there wasn’t really much dancing, it was mostly just dinner,” Clifford said. “So this is going to be our test whether we can do this!” 

This hope is based on the acts of keeping masks in place and social distance between students during the night. There also will be a parameter to get people quickly off the dance floor if it were to get too rowdy, in the work to keep Covid at bay while having fun.

The Star also asked why the Turnabout dance was changed to the Winter Ball to affirm the possibility of openness and inclusion. The answer was that as students, it doesn’t go unrecognized that we break gender boundaries everyday and it shows progress that the gender binary system may be fading.

“We’ve really taken that Turnabout dance and turned it into a winter party,” Clifford said. “We want everybody to grab their crew, go by themselves if they want. We don’t want people to feel forced to have a date, and we don’t want people to be forced into that gendering of what Turnabout was.”

In other words, whether one is a freshman or senior, binary or nonbinary, March 19’s dance will be a Winter Ball for all.