Hiring an amateur youth hip-hop crew for the Student Council sponsored Winter Week opening event was a terrible decision. Amidst speakers blasting remix like a broken radio, the dancers, who shook their butts, shouted obnoxiously, and, at one point, thrust their genitals up close in some students’ faces, were extremely inappropriate, especially when the entire school community was gathered for what was the start of an entertaining, yet educational, week.

Status Quo members’ actual dance moves were impressive for a short period; some of their moves were amazing, and they were entertaining. However, during the majority of the show, when Status Quo clearly showed a lack of preparation, directionless members of the crew attempted to fill the time with random, suggestive acts and saying silly things while behaving in a way to garner select teens’ whistles and screams.

The opening event was not supposed to be a venue for student dancing. It was also not meant to be the free-for-all segment of the week. When interested students came out from the bleachers and joined the Status Quo members, not only did that make the entire show more amateurish, but also the aimlessness of Status Quo’s dancers passed onto the participating students. When the trickle of volunteers died off quickly, members of the dance crew began to call out certain students in a selective manner. Some of these called-out students were indiscreet, as they shook and pointed at their butts for the audience and then feverishly argued about who won the “dance competition.” All of this happened while their teachers and peers were watching.

A professional hip-hop group would not have relied so heavily on the participatory segment of the show. Professionals would have coordinated their show until the end, perhaps calling up one or two volunteers to excite the audience. In Status Quo’s case, calling up volunteers was not a sideshow—it was a major segment of its performance that just didn’t work.

According to the Winter Week coordinators, they hired Status Quo because they wanted an event that was “exciting and different from the past.” The decision was also influenced by the dance crew’s MTV prominence and popularity on the Web. What was expected from the Status Quo members, as part of their contract, was an hour-long performance with two parts: dancing and then an interactive session with the audience talking about their origins and rise in the popular culture.

When Status Quo’s short-lived dancing session ended abruptly and the chaotic and directionless session began, it was apparent that members of Status Quo had not planned out the event, even though specifics had been indicated in the contract and members were aware of how much time had been given to them. The free-for-all session just dragged along until one of the Status Quo members said, “I guess it’s time for us to leave.” As soon as Status Quo started its unorganized and dysfunctional show, the school community really did not have much control over how its actions could affect the school population.

Next time, perhaps we need a more definitive oversight during major school events. We must think ahead and consider multiple effects of such prominent school-wide events before they actually happen.

Inappropriate photos were excluded.
All photos were taken by Eilif Mikkelsen.