Lindbergh, Kirkwood, Lutheran South, and Rockwood Summit. What is one thing these schools have in common? They all had winter dances this year. So why not South?

According to junior Allison Miele, this is what many students were wondering after receiving an email on Feb. 19 saying that the winter dance had been canceled due to lack of ticket sales.

“I was really disappointed because I was genuinely looking forward to a fun night with friends,” Miele said.

The winter dance was scheduled for Feb. 28. It was going to be held in the Commons with a “Winter Ball” theme.

According to sophomore Hannah Kwong who was on the dance planning committee, 100 tickets had to be sold by Feb. 18 for the dance to be held, and only about 40 tickets ended up being sold by the deadline.

“We tried to sell enough tickets by advertising with social media posts, posters, a table at lunch where people could make snowflakes, and word of mouth,” Kwong said.

A ticket requirement is often taken into consideration when planning the winter dance according to math teacher Allison MacDonald, who is one of the teachers leading the dance committee.

“We usually require at least 100 tickets to cover the cost of the DJ,” MacDonald said. “We also require 100 tickets to make sure there are enough students so that the dance itself is not so small that it is too awkward.”

Kwong said if ticket sales had continued until the day of the dance she thinks there would have been plenty sold to have a fun dance, pay for decorations, and a DJ.

“I think a lot of people wait until the last minute to buy tickets,” she said. “Also I feel like once some people would’ve started buying tickets and going, a lot of other people would’ve wanted to start buying tickets too.”

Some students were not at all interested in a winter dance, according to freshman Ethan Thompson.

“I was not going to go to the winter dance. It just didn’t seem like that much fun,” he said.

Miele said one reason she thought sales for this year’s dance were lower was due to how different the theme was this year compared to last year. Last year the dance was a casual “Hoedown,” while this year the theme was a formal “Winter Ball.”

“I loved the Hoedown, and I feel like a lot of people prefer a less formal dance in the winter,” Miele said. “People come to this dance for dancing, while other dances like homecoming are for people to show off their outfit.”

According to Thompson, other dances such as Homecoming and Prom are more popular, so obviously they pull in more ticket sales.

“All schools have a Homecoming dance, so I feel like a lot of people want to go to that dance because it’s popular and everyone else goes,” he said.

According to MacDonald, due to the uncertainty of whether the ticket sale requirement would be reached, the dance committee was waiting to buy supplies until the goal was met.

“We had an Amazon list ready to go for decor and supplies, but were waiting to actually order to see if we sold enough tickets,” MacDonald said. “We had a plan in place, but always wait as long as possible to really start working.”

Kwong said many underclassmen may be disappointed because the winter dance is one of the few dances they get to go to.

“This dance is kind of more of an underclassmen dance. We like it because we can’t go to other events like prom,” Kwong said.

MacDonald said the lack of ticket sales was a little unexpected because a survey had been sent out to students earlier in the school year that had shown there was interest.

“We sent out a survey that had over 200 responses with about 150 people saying they would attend the dance, and most voted for a Winter Ball,” she said. “Ticket sales just didn’t end up happening.”

According to Miele, she thinks the dance could be successful if more upperclassmen supported it.

“The Posse doesn’t post or say anything about it, and I feel like overall the upperclassmen student population doesn’t really get excited about this dance. The dance would be so much better if they did,” Miele said.

According to MacDonald, despite the survey, the cancellation of the dance wasn’t entirely unexpected due to South’s history.

“The winter dance usually happens 50% of the time, maybe a little less,” she said. “It really depends each year on the students planning it and how enthusiastic they are.”

Kwong has hopes that next year the dance will gain enough popularity for it to actually happen.

“I hope we have a winter dance next year. If people give it a chance, it could be really fun,” she said.