Cast Members' School Dance Memories
Cheryl Graeff: From the age of ten to twelve I went to Southern Lehigh Middle School in Allentown, PA. At our dances we had this particular ritual called The Multiplication Dance, which occurred two times during the night. It was where we would all make a large circle around the dimly lit cafeteria and five to six couples would be called into the center. These couples were normally students that were "going together". The couples would dance, usually to the song If I Could Save Time In A Bottle. Around 20 seconds into the song Mr. Wankemaker, who was the DJ at all our dances, would softly say into the mic, "switch". The couples would break apart and have to go out the circle and pick another partner to dance with. By the end of the song there were 20 to 30 couples dancing. In sixth grade, the Multiplication Dance was absolutely terrifying to me. I thought, 'what if I get asked to dance the second "switch"? Then I'd have to ask not just one boy to dance but multiple boys. The bathroom became my haven. However, by my last year, I conquered this fear and through this ritual found that asking many boys to dance could actually be... liberating.
Dawn Bach: I was 12, standing on the sidelines of our middle school cafeteria-turned-ballroom looking out at the sea of my fellow prepubescent classmates, hormones aflutter. The Go-Gos were playing as I hoped and prayed that I'd see my latest crush there. Just seeing him would have been worth the torture of going alone. He never showed.
Matthew Brumlow: For my senior prom I had ordered a cool tux - very classic, subdued even. White dinner jacket, black tie , black vest. I was very excited to get dressed up and cut a rug with my friends. My tux arrives and as I open the bag two hours before I hit the limo I see what they gave me.a black tux with tails and a red paisley vest and red paisley bowtie. I looked like a bad batman comic villain. Too late to return it, I did my best to turn it into lemonade, but I really looked like a dork. Two hours into the night, luckily, we were all sweaty messes from dancing so everyone ended up leaving those coats and vests at their tables which relieved me a great deal. My date was gracious and we actually did a runway show where I paraded my tails at night's end. It is, however, absolutely the most hideous prom photo ever taken and I forced my mother to remove it from the family photo album at home. I am sure she has since put it back into the damn thing.