Dancing the Night Away!

Last weekend the Latin American Student Organization at Ole Miss hosted their Latin Party at the Lyric. For $10 we were able to dance the night away with new friends!

My friend Andrea planned the event and it was going so well… until it wasn’t.

Right when you walked into the lobby, you were met by a sign-in table where you paid your $10 entry fee and then were passed off to security who checked IDs and distributed wristbands to attendees 21-years and older. Since it was a cold February night, there was one rolling clothing rack available for guests to hang their coats on, which after about 45 minutes, was overstuffed, and quite frankly overflowing. A lot of us were hesitant at first to put our belongings on this flimsy, overwhelmed “coat rack” because there was no attendee or anyone watching our belongings while we were inside the venue. We quickly came to the conclusion that we would take our chances and hope for the best.

When you walked into the main event space, you were greeted with a few small tables and chairs flanked around the back half of the space and two bars lining the sides of the room. At the front of the room held a large stage where two DJs were set up playing music. Looking at the room with your back to the stage, you could see bright, colorful flags representing different Latin countries hanging from the balcony on the second floor. Simple, yet all the event really needed, the main attraction took place on the dancefloor.

Once a few brave souls went out onto the dancefloor, others quickly followed. Within a short time, guests like me, with no background and/or experience in Latin dancing, were led by a very patient, funny “instructor” (one of Andrea’s friends) on the basics of Salsa dancing. After a few sips of a margarita and lots of laughs – mainly at my own self-inflicted expense – I felt like I had the swing of things… I was definitely no pro, but I felt like I didn’t at least look like “that girl”!

Around 11:30 p.m., mid-dance, mid-laugh, the venue’s overhead lights came on, the music stopped, and the DJ came onto the microphone and said “Sorry, but they’re saying everyone’s gotta get out”. Stopping to catch our breath, we all looked at each other confused because there was well over an hour left until the event was scheduled to end. Immediately, my friend Andrea went to find the manager and talk to security on what was going on. Because we were right up front at the foot of the stage, we turned to the DJs and asked what was going on and they said that something had happened and that the venue no longer had running water and so they were throwing us out.

Security started corralling guests towards and through the doors into the lobby where the already overwhelming makeshift coat rack became a literal free-for-all. Security wanted us out, we just wanted our belongings and since there was no attendant at the coat rack, there were no ticket cards, so no one knew whose was whose.

Then the individuals working the sign-in table told us that if we left, we wouldn’t be allowed back in again even though we paid to attend. So, the small group of us that came together stayed behind as long as we could to see if we could help Andrea with anything and didn’t want to leave without her.

While we were waiting, the DJ came out into the lobby area and told us that it was approved by the Lyric manager to come back in and that the event could still go on, however we would not have any water nor any working restrooms. We stayed and danced for about another half an hour until again the DJ came on and said “Sorry but this time they really mean it, we have to be gone”. Again, the bars and bartenders became overwhelmed with people trying to close out their open tabs, the coat rack – while it was a miracle it was still standing – became a free-for-all again as everyone tried to grab their things before someone else accidentally mixed up theirs for another.

From this experience, I believe in the importance of organization, communication, and safety. When the accident occurred, no one from the hired security, nor the venue manager informed my friend of the incident nor what they were doing to fix it. The first person to be filled in (with the little bit of information available) outside of the immediate security was the DJ. He was told we had to leave but no explanation why and no answer to if the party would go on if the issue was solved. Security looked at one another confused, the DJ had no clue what was going on, and we were just trying to figure out what was going on.

Problem/lack of running water aside, the only true area that needed improvement was the “coat rack” that the venue had (what seemed to be) thrown together last minute. As an event planner, I would have been worried about guests' lost/stolen property, misplaced and/or accidentally swapped belongings.

Ultimately, my feet might have been sore from hours on the dance floor and my stomach definitely hurt from laughing so hard, but the friends I met, and the memories I made will without a doubt last me a lifetime!