School Dances

[th_poet14]

Maybe the school dance could be something the Muggle Studies teacher suggested, as kind of a hands on project? I think the Headmaster/mistress would announce it over dinner, just in case people don't look at posts in the CR.
Hope this helps!
Kate

[R_Ravenclaw]

Maybe the school dance could be something the Muggle Studies teacher suggested, as kind of a hands on project? I think the Headmaster/mistress would announce it over dinner, just in case people don't look at posts in the CR

Except… That's exactly what happened in A Tale of Two Matchmakers, so you might not want to use it.

As for dances, well, don't make them too huge of a deal. A cute fluffy thing, yes, but too much of a good thing, you know…

[bewitching]

You have to admit, school dances could easily have been put off every year except for Harry's first. That was the only relaticiley clam year.

Year Two - People were becoming petraffied left and right

Year Three- Sirius Black is on the loose

Year Four- Yay! Dance!

Year 5- Oh... look... its Umbridge

Year Six- Voldy's back for sure!

Year Seven- Well... Snape is headmaster and evrything dark is going on. Not exactly meant to be a joyous school year.

[SiriuslyMental]

Year One - what was wrong with that? I don't think they've had them, or we'd have seen older students mentioning them from before. Plus, no one acted like this was a normal Hogwarts thing. The older students had no advice to give, the teachers said nothing about the Yule Ball having been a certain way years before, and the whole thing with the Champions really throws it all off. It was a Triwizard thing, I'm sure of it.

[cmwinters]

Do you think it is possible that they would have other school dances at Hogwarts besides the Yule Ball? I really want to have a Sadie Hawkins dance in a fiction that I am planning, but I don't want to put it in if it isn't likely to happen. This is placed around this year, if that would help anything.

And one more thing: How would the Head go around announcing it? It would be sometime between Christmas and Easter, so would he (or she) just announce it during lunch or dinner or something, or would they post it in each CR?


Thank you all in advance,
~Selina

Nope. Yes, Arthur & Molly were unfazed by the requirement for the dress robes, but Arthur worked at the Ministry and would have known what was going on. Aside from the cliche of the school dance, there's no reason to believe Hogwarts had any other dances besides the ones associated with the Tournament. Ever.

I'd ask in the Being British thread to be 100% sure, but if I were a betting woman, I'd say "absolutely not" to a Sadie Hawkins dance. Sadie Hawkins is a cartoon character out of an American comic strip.

Further, I'd been led to believe that the whole school dance thing is really rather an American tradition, and not so much a British one, but again, I'd ask in the Being British thread.

You may find it here:
http://fanfiction.mugglenet.com/foru...ad.php?t=13817

[TyrannoLaurus]

Further, I'd been led to believe that the whole school dance thing is really rather an American tradition, and not so much a British one, but again, I'd ask in the Being British thread.

I would disagree to some extent. We don't have an official 'Prom' or 'Homecoming' every year but most Leavers have a school Ball at the age of sixteen and again at eighteen, and it's popular to have at the very least a 'party' for Halloween. I'm surprised JKR doesn't include more Balls, in fact. At my University college we have three a year (ridiculous I know. And we're expected to have a different dress each time) and I know that similar traditions are used in the Oxbridge colleges. We also have Formal dinners once a fortnight. I know this is Univiersity not school but Hogwarts is ridiculously traditional in its customs so it's worth noting. I don't know how many formal occaisons the top grammar and boarding schools in England have, but I would hazard a guess that it'd be at least one a year. It's worth looking up.

As for dances ... erm, let's see - you all stand in a big circle and bop your head up and down! From the occaisons I have been to, it's only those who have actually been to ballroom dancing classes that show off their skills - whilst the rest of us do a poor attempt at copying. However, swing dancing is quite popular, even if it is an American thing. We had a swing dance Ball last year and even I managed to pull off some moves.

So, yea. Really don't think it's altogether cliche to have a Ball in a story, especially for the Leavers (and several non-Leavers do manage to leak in each year!!) so long as there's a reason. It could have been put off in previous years. It's simply part of the school calender of events for most schools. But if you want to make it totally and utterly cringingly British have the music stop near the end and McGonagall stand up to announce the raffle winners - which, in our school, was funnily enough always the teachers, governors or their relatives.

[Flobberworm93]

It could work if it was extremely well done, but I would still be careful with the dance. What about a Valentine's Day trip to Hogsmeade? Equally romantic, but definitely canon and not cliche. You can still have a girl ask a guy out to Hogsmeade, if she's the kind of character that would do that.