Sarah Brewer
Copy Editor
Cameron students danced among tigers, zebras and amid other wild decorations at the annual Homecoming dance beginning at 9 p.m. on Feb. 14 at the MCC Ballroom.
In addition to these cardboard facsimiles, the placement of animal-print lanterns and a rustic arch further transformed the dance floor into the setting for a safari — the theme chosen for the 2013 annual Homecoming week.
Student Activities Specialist Megan Canfield was responsible for planning the Homecoming Dance at CU alongside Programming Activities Council (PAC) students. Canfield said that creating an atmosphere that fits the theme could be crucial to the achieving the desired attendance for the event.
“I think the success of the dance might depend on what the theme was or what the decorations were like — I know the students had a lot of fun with the Under the Big Top theme last year, and so we’re trying to create a similar atmosphere with the safari theme that we’re going with,” Canfield said.
Canfield said that their interpretation of the safari theme was based on a concept that counted on animals, and she went on to describe the direction they took when choosing accents to decorate the venue.
“There is going to be animal print all over the place,” Canfield said. “With a safari, you could go with a jungle or with grasslands, and you could probably call a trek through the Artic a safari.”
Since the date of Homecoming Dance coincided with Valentine’s Day, Canfield said the students selected decorations that had a wild, romantic flair that would simultaneously play on the holiday and Homecoming theme.
“We kind of lucked out because the dance is schedule on Valentine’s Day, so we’re going to go with this safari-meets-hearts and a ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’ theme,” Canfield said.
She also hopes that students will consider going to Homecoming Dance with their significant others as part of their date night plans.
“It will be interesting to see — since the dance is on Valentine’s Day — what our attendance will be,” Canfield said. “I’m hoping it will still be high and people will think ‘okay, we can go out to dinner and then go to the dance.’”
According to Canfield, the DJ appointed to man the turntables and drop the beats during the Homecoming Dance will be one that is familiar with the creating soundtracks for other annual CU events.
“We will have a DJ from the same entertainment company that we use for our Foam Dance Party. There will be a lot of urban music, and hopefully our DJ will cover a wide range of genres so students will have something to dance to no matter what,” Canfield said.
Cortney Cochrane, a sophomore Biology major, said she was attending her first social college function by deciding to come to the CU Homecoming Dance with her friends and her Alpha Phi sorority sisters.
She said she found the blend of music provided the DJ enjoyable but looked forward to dancing to her favorite brand of tunes.
“I lean more toward country,” she said. “I like the line dances and two-stepping, but I can dig on this music. I’m not a big hip-hop person; I’m more of a country girl.”
Cochrane said that she looked forward to attending the dance, as the event was the culmination of the Homecoming week for her.
Despite missing the game, Cochrame enjoyed spending time during the safari-themed soiree.
“I was expecting to have a good time with my sorority sisters here at the dance — and so far, so good,” she said. “There’s quite a few of here, and we’re having fun dancing.”