So I’ll admit it. My countdown to last weekend’s Leverett ’80s dance began during its predecessor in April. As a prefrosh, I wondered whether it was ever worth paying $5 to attend a dance. Then I got inside the Leverett 80’s Dance and learned that five bucks was completely worth the chance to wear scrunchies and listen to Bon Jovi.
Last Saturday night, I got the chance to go back.
With outfits ranging from shirtless guys to spandex to side ponytails and headbands (or some combination thereof), it was easy to forget the ’80s ever came to an end. In the words of Abe Riesman ’08: “I could smell Ronald Reagan there. He was alive.”
Ronald Reagan was not the only smell pervading Leverett. The dance got so overcrowded that the cops were summoned. The smell of perspiring bodies invaded the nostrils of the partiers, water condensed on the windows and the question of whether to trade the center of the dance floor for a spot by the fan was a tough one.
However, in spite of all the obstacles inside the Leverett Dining Hall, the ’80s were alive and well. There is simply no substitute for good music. Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” and Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” electrified the dance floor, though other ditties (i.e. Boy George’s classic “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me”) left the crowd slightly confused. Still, when the dance ended at 12:45 with Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer,” most stayed on, begging for the night to continue.
Last weekend at Harvard, ghosts returned and the ’80s came back, if only for a moment. It was, as Carrie Andersen ’08, described it, “F***ing awesome!” And lucky for us Flashdance fanatics, there’s another one in April... And the countdown begins. again.
