The Space Dance turned out to be a victory, said a member of BYU-Hawaii’s Students Events, due to the success it had in bringing out more married students than past dances. According to students, the Salsa band and the food contributed to the large number of attendees on Friday, Feb. 9 held at the CAC.
Seth Schellenberg, a sophomore from Utah majoring in English who works with BYUH Student Events, explained how every dance is a chance to try out a new idea and turn it into a unique experience. “Every time we do a dance, we try to do something different. With the events, we know we are never going to get everybody excited to go. Our hardest demographic to track is the TVA people. We try to do movie nights so they can bring their families. The Salsa Band was nice to have because it brought a bunch of married couples to the floor.”
The lights were kept on for the salsa dance portion, but after the first hour, the band was done, and the DJ started to play. A fog machine and white glow sticks accompanied the DJ as the lights were dimmed. Most people went for pizza and ice cream, but stayed for the dancing. A lot of TVA couples said they went for the salsa band, but by the time it ended, they were already dancing, so they stayed for the part of the DJ portion.
He commented on the satisfaction the Student Events presidency feels when students enjoy their activities. “We live for the moments where people are excited for what we do and the events that we plan. I think having the Salsa Band drew out a loyal, loving crowd that we hadn’t seen before. We loved it. With all the dances we’ve done, it seems like we get the same kids out to do the same dances to the same songs.”
Jeanette Stockford, a sophomore from Washington studying graphic design, said, “I love the salsa band. They put a lot of time and effort into the music they pick and play. I would love to hear [the Salsa band] play more, but I know not very many students here appreciate them like I ... The dances [would] only end up having like 20 people there.”
A member of the Salsa Band, Parker Stockford, Jeanette Stockfords’ husband and a sophomore from Oregon studying music education, shared how happy he was that people could enjoy their performance. He commented that a lot of “time and effort is put into [practicing]. Not a lot of people recognize how much time we put into the music we play. I think my favorite [song] is probably "hot-hot-hot", because it’s such a high-energy piece, and it is so much fun to play. [The night] was awesome. It was pretty much perfect. I would definitely love to play at more events.”
Schellenberg also shared his favorite song performed by the band. “I love the Salsa band. I think they sound great and they are very developed. The vocalists have pristine talent and I was 100 percent impressed. My favorite song was a Marc Anthony song.”
Jeanette gave insight on why she felt the dance was successful. She said, “I try to go to all the school dances, because they are a fun activity for my husband and I to go to without having to spend money or time to get out of Laie for the evening.” Schellenberg agreed, he commented, “This [dance] was fun because it was more partner dancing. You didn’t have to come with a partner, but you could find someone to dance with on the floor.”
Not everyone came to dance, but rather for food said, Schellenberg. “At the end of the day, what won the day was the pizza. We had tons of pizza. People showed up, even if it was just for a minute to eat pizza and go. That’s fine.” He chuckled and continued, “In April, we are looking forward to a chalk dance, a color festival. You can throw chalk at each other and get all colored up with music playing. It will be fun. Hopefully, we can make some noise to get the news out there.”