A kaleidoscope of colors swept through the dance floor as students danced at Columbia’s annual Blood Ball dressed in clown makeup and clothes.
The ball’s theme this year was Night Circus and took place on the fifth floor event space at the Student Center on Friday, April 11.
Planning for the annual school dance began in January, with students from the Student Engagement and Leadership office dividing into committees to handle various aspects of the event, including finance, history, production and marketing.
Jenna Davis, a junior fine arts major and president of the Student Government Association, was a part of the history committee, and said she wanted to incorporate the history of the 135th year of the ball.
“You’ll see throughout the space, there’s old versions of Blood Ball posters,” Davis said. “It’s been called Blood Ball to commemorate Mary Blood, our founder.”
Named after Mary A. Blood, the event immersed over 200 registered attendees in the theme with tarot readings, temporary tattoos and a wandering magician.
The sound of the bass from the speakers rippled through the floors as students made their way to the dance floor in colorful attire, striped and polka-dotted pants and ruffled collars, completing the clown-themed look with white face paint and a painted-on smile.
Sophomore marketing major and Vice-President of SOC Brady Charles, also known as the wandering magician, sat at one the tables to entertain attendees with card tricks and get them into the “circus mood.”
“We’re seeing a lot of people dressed in theme, a lot of clowns, a lot of fun characters,” Charles said. “It’s really awesome to see everyone getting into the swing of things and getting into the theme of Night Circus.”
After hearing about the event on Engage, senior traditional animation major Laila Bonner said she was excited to hear about the ball’s theme after voting for the Night Circus theme.
“I think this is really fun, just a nice, proper prom,” Bonner said. “A lot of us during COVID didn’t really get proms, so this is a really good experience.”
Originally marketed as prom last year, Davis said the previous year’s theme was Renna Gala, but has “always been called Blood Ball.”
Attending the Blood Ball with Bonner, junior entrepreneurship and innovation major Arwen Miller said she looks forward to coming to the event every year.
Not being able to make it during her first year, Miller said “I look to Engage for it every year when it comes around.”
Isavel Huston, a sophomore transfer comedy and writing performance major, said it was nice to see so many students dressing for the ball’s theme.
“I feel like Columbia students are very fashionable in general and I feel like they will go very hard on themes,” Huston said. “I think it’s a really fun way to let people express their creativity.”
Junior music major Kirstyn Smith showed up alongside Huston to dress up nicely, socialize and have fun dancing.
“It’s a nice breather between the stress of midterms and what’s coming for finals,” Smith said.
She also mentioned that the theme of Night Circus was very “accessible” to students due to its versatility in fashion.
“A lot of people, even if they can’t go out and buy a ball gown for a ball, they can find fun colors in their wardrobe and they can do fun makeup and things like that to really fit into the theme,” Smith said. “It leads to a lot of creativity.”
As the night drew to a close, more attendees gathered on the dance floor, connecting and enjoying the moment together.
Copy edited by Patience Hurston
Resumen en Español:
El viernes, 11 de abril, 200 estudiantes y asistentes celebraron el Blood Ball, un baile anual, en el quinto piso del Centro Estudiantil por el 135º año. Asistentes de primera vez tanto como los recurrentes se disfrazaron por el tema del baile, “Circo Nocturno”, y disfrutaron la noche de música, baile y comunidad.
Resumen por Sofía Oyarzún
Resumen editado por Manuel Nocera
