What Happened to Glow Dance?

By Jack Butterworth ‘26

“Stand if you went to the Glow Dance,” Rachel Stone, Upper School Principal, asked students at the Upper School Meeting on Monday. The bleachers went silent. Only a small handful of underclassmen and SAA members stood. Seeing such a reaction, it’s difficult to believe that Glow Dance once sparked as much student excitement as Milton’s beloved Quadival. 

Last Friday, September 27th, the Student Activities Association transformed the RSG into a glowing, neon-lit dance floor for the annual dance. Under the shine of black lights, surrounded by streamers and vibrant decor, students gathered for a night of music, dancing, and continued tradition. Yet, this year’s Glow Dance did not reflect the anticipation the event once generated. The dance boasted outstanding reviews from those who attended—an estimated 70 students at its peak. “I loved the time with my friends and the music,” Leo Wan ‘28 said. “Most people stayed the whole time and I appreciated a space for me to bond with my grade.” 

Marisela Funes, a faculty supervisor for the event, echoed this sentiment: “The students who attended – mostly freshmen and sophomores – looked like they enjoyed themselves.” However, those students also noticed the lack of attendance, specifically from upperclassmen. While SAA activities as a whole generally attract more underclassmen than upperclassmen, Glow Dance used to be a notable exception. Graduate Ann O’Malley ’22 reflected, “Glow Dance was my favorite event of the Milton school year! I can't think of many other times when every grade got to socialize together.” 

Before, the dance was a hallmark of the Milton experience. A spectacle of paint, music, and dancing, Glow Dance drew the excitement of the whole school, but after a pause due to COVID, it returned in 2023 in a radically different form: the administration had replaced glow paint with markers over concerns about the cleanup and the touchy nature of painting each other. Regardless, the Class of 2023 pushed to revive the spirit of the original Glow Dance that marked their freshman year experience. That year, the Glow Dance had a great turnout, leaving a lasting positive influence on that year’s freshmen, the Class of 2026. “My freshman year, Glow Dance was packed and fun! I was surprised by how many upperclassmen came.” Anna Mulliken ’26 shared. “It made me excited about going to Milton, but my sophomore year I didn’t enjoy the dance as much, so I decided to skip it this year.”

Now, with the Class of 2023 two years graduated and the original Glow Dance experience forgotten, the effort to make Glow Dance a central part of the Milton experience has disappeared. This year, upperclassmen were notably absent, and while the underclassmen attendees enjoyed the dance, the event lacked the school unity that once defined it.

This decline in student participation is not for lack of SAA effort. In the Junior-Senior class assembly in the ACC, the SAA surprised students with an energetic Glow Dance advertisement by turning the lights out, playing music, and throwing glow sticks into the bleachers. They also hung a huge banner in the Student Center, along with a live Instagram broadcast of the setup. 

Despite the enduring appeal of designing one’s own shirt, it seems that without the marvel of painting and dancing, Glow Dance does not attract enough students to make it central to the Milton experience. Although for many underclassmen, Glow Dance still serves as a special bonding event, giving them a chance to celebrate the start of the school year together, the school spirit that the event once represented is gone. The tradition was rooted in the fact that the whole school attended Glow Dance; now that has changed. The event that was once the epitome of Milton culture has become just another sparsely attended—although well-planned, advertised, and decorated—school dance.