The proms (short for promenades) of today are a social and iconic part of the high school experience. They hold everything from photos, to formal dinners, chocolate fountains, a dress worthy of the red carpet and even a rented limousine. According to prettyforprom.com, an all-about-prom website, historians believed prom has been taking place as early as the 1800’s. They are not mentioned in yearbooks until the 1930’s. As early as then, they are referred to in women’s diaries as “proms”.
Out of all the events that take place at a high school prom, the tradition of introductions was established well before our time. Girls in white gloves and dresses would be escorted into the promenade hall by their dates to be officially introduced to the social group. The group was carefully chosen and invitations were only sent out to the wealthy students. This soon changed as the years went by and it became a generalized experience for everyone. As the promenades became more sophisticated, high school girls competed to see who wore the most expensive or prettiest dress and who took the hottest date to prom introductions.
Mrs. Bonnie Anderson is the junior class advisor and helps organize prom. This year the prom theme is “When in Rome” and the procedure of introductions is very specific.
“All couples who would like to be introduced before the dance begins, assemble in the hallway outside of the auditorium. Mr. Knapp introduces each couple and they walk to the middle of the stage, where their parents and friends may take pictures of them,” Anderson said.
Not only are the couples introduced, but they also announce who is to be prom king, queen, prince and princess.
“Afterwards, the president of the junior class Ali Byrd, will dedicate the prom to the senior class,” Anderson said.
When HHS was much smaller, this event was called “figures”. Couples were introduced in the gym. As the school grew bigger in numbers they decided to move the event to the auditorium and change the name to “introductions”.
Over the years, the introduction method has had similar procedures to today’s proms. Patrick Jarrett, a Geometry teacher at the Harrisonburg High math department, remembers going to his prom.
“What they would do is a couple would come off from the side of the stage and stop for an official photo, keep walking and taking other official photos, the place was very decorated,” Jarrett said.
Decorations can range from a highly decorated arc to carpets and even balloons all according to the particular theme chosen that year.
If you compare the past introductions with present ones there isn’t much change neither in procedure nor in everyone’s opinion about it. While some students choose to go through all the procedures of prom and enjoy it to the fullest, others prefer to miss out on some things. A senior at Harrisonburg High, Josh Gray has strong opinions about introductions.
“Prom was interesting to say the least, but you don’t have to go to prom introductions,”Gray said.
