Homecoming week has come and gone as it does every year, ending with the Homecoming Dance. This year’s Homecoming Dance has received a lukewarm review from students.

The theme this year was “Jungle”. Although innovative, few students knew what that actually meant.

“I thought it was fun, but I was the only one dressed up,” junior Grace Morrison said. It was almost impossible to find someone who dressed for the theme, and the decoration consisted of the word jungle written on the wall in brown paper and fake, palm streamers on one of the doors.

“I thought there were no decorations,” senior Alex Rose-Henning said. “There was like a leaf and that was it.”

But that didn’t mean students didn’t have fun at the dance.

“I thought it was fun and I thought ASB did a good job,” junior Shaina Kaye said.

According to student activities director Allye Mullins, approximately 800 students attended. From what Mullins has heard, the dance went well and the only changes to occur for future dances involve the placement of the coat check area.

“The only feedback is that it was the best dance ever at Paly,” Mullins said. “But I haven’t heard many opinions.”

“I thought the dance was good, but the DJ could have been better,” sophomore Brendan Ruh said.

The DJ has been the single most common criticism of the Homecoming Dance, both from those students that liked and those that didn’t like the Homecoming Dance. Last year’s Homecoming Dance featured a D.J. from radio station Wild 94.9 FM. According to Mullins, this years DJ, who is the brother of a Paly student, was chosen because he was cheaper than the radio station DJ, and the ASB heard he was good. Mullins also said that he was picked in order to assess our DJ options for future dances.

“It’s like an interview for prom,” Mullins said.

To the delight of those attending, the issue of flashlight-wielding chaperones breaking up those dancing inappropriately, with what some students considered offensive language was nowhere near as prolific as at the Back to School Dance. After the last dance, the administration worked with the ASB to find ways to better combat inappropriate dancing. But according to Mullins, inappropriate dancing was not a major issue and the chaperones reported that kids behaved much better at Homecoming than at the Back to School Dance.

Students could see how to behave by watching the video all students were subject to watch as they stood in line to enter the dance. The video, which has been used at Gunn, uses real Gunn students wearing mime masks to show what kind of dancing is inappropriate and appropriate.

Although many had criticisms, most students were still able to have fun at the dance.

“I had fun just hanging out with my friends,” sophomore Lauren Mah said.