On Sept. 14 at 9 p.m., St. Olaf had one of the biggest dances in five years with a turnout of 777 people. Not only was the turnout greater than past years, but the energy of the room was something so much greater than usual that even the people of Fizz were saying it was fun. With this drastic change from last year where the environment of a dance was turning students of the College away, we are left with one question: what made this dance different?
As someone who was able to attend the dance, I will say that, as I stated before, this dance had an energy to it that made the whole dance feel safe. I think a big part of this safe feeling was the DJs that were chosen. A lot has happened with music this past summer and I believe that these DJs noticed those changes in the industry. From Chappell Roan, Charli xcx, and good old 2010s music that brought everyone back to middle school — in a good way — the music and artists that were played during the dance helped to continue the good vibes of the summer.
This feeling was integrated into the dance from the first moment you saw the Pause Dance advertisement. The theme of the dance being based off of Charli xcx’s new album, “Brat,” created an environment that helped the whole dance feel like a party. This theme, combined with the exceptional light work done by the Pause tech crew, made the entire dance floor feel worthy of the energy Charli xcx’s “Club Classics” creates.
One thing that definitely stood out to me during this dance was the way the DJs seamlessly transitioned between each other. In an interview with the Lion’s Pause Venue Coordinator Rayvin Gierwatowski ’26, she said that in the planning and application process for the DJs, transitions between DJs was a huge part of making their decision. In addition to the Pause Exec, the Concert Board helped select the DJs for the dance, and also added a video component to the application that required the potential DJs to show what their stage presence would be like. This added video to show stage presence was very crucial to the DJ selection process — if the DJ can’t give a show up on stage while also bringing amazing music to the crowd, the dance attendees will get bored and leave. A huge part of DJing is their stage presence and I think that all the DJs at the first Pause Dance brought what was needed to make the Pause Dance have a fun energy that never died. The addition of running through the sets with the DJs before also assured the transitions between the DJ’s was smooth and at times not even noticeable — meaning the dance never stopped.
I, for one, loved this dance and am so excited for the next one. If my opinion is like any of the other nearly 800 people at the dance, I think others are excited too. The Programming Board, Pause Tech, Concert Board, Pause Security, student DJs, and OSA all came together to create a dance that was memorable to many and I can’t wait to see what they do next with Homecoming and other Pause-held events. If you loved this dance as much as I did, make sure to show up to other Pause and Programming Board events. It’s the only way we can keep up this great energy to support college events!
