By Ella Harvey
PDC, also known as Pre-Debutante Cotillion (mainly by older people, I don’t think Gen-Z calls it this), is marked as a canon event in many people’s high school careers.
And there are four opportunities to go, once per grade.
PDC dances are hosted in various Country Clubs or venues. Girls are formally invited to attend, and in turn, invite a date.
According to pdcdances.com, “For over 50 years, PDC Dances have brought students across different high schools in the Atlanta area together for a celebratory dinner dance…this tradition has enabled students to develop social graces, learn about event etiquette, and make memories with friends!” (pdcdances.com)
This past weekend, sophomores had the chance to nab some social graces, etiquette, and memories at the Biltmore Ballroom, a venue in Midtown, nestled into the heart of Georgia Tech.
Various schools, including Lovett, Westminster, Holy Innocents, North Atlanta, and Pace, attend this dance. It is a great way for people to catch up with old friends who may no longer attend the same school. Sophomore Tatiana Ward “got to see so many people from North Atlanta that I went to middle school with,” she said.
PDC festivities begin hours (at least for girls) before the actual dance. Often it takes days of preparation, like getting a spray tan or nails done, and then the day of, many girls, including myself, voyage to Drybar to get their hair blown out to whatever degree their heart desires.
Last year, I saw the entire girl population of my grade at Drybar; this year, there were fewer. Sophomore Avery Price went to Junko Hair. “They were really nice and did a good job,” she said.
While many girls take hours to get ready, apparently, the boys took a lot less than that.
Sophomores Landon Simms and Lee Wetzler both stated that they took “About 5 to 10 minutes, maybe 15 max. Somewhere in there,” they said. (My advisor thought the boys were talking about how long it took them to get ready for school that morning; that’s how surprising this news was.)
The girls in my advisory were astonished by this, listing all the things they had to do to prepare, like shower, get their hair done, and apply makeup.
And Landon’s routine? “Umm..I probably showered that morning,” he said.
Once everyone was dressed up, people headed to the picture party, which was hosted for the entire grade. The party is an exciting way to see everyone in their outfits and to get pictures with your friends. While in some grades, picture parties are with certain friend groups, for the past two years, the sophomores have had one big one.
“I like the all-grade picture party because I get to see different people whom I am not in the same friend group with,” Kaelyn Rolla said. Avery Price agreed: “You get to see friends that you may not see otherwise.”
After the picture party, upperclassmen drove the sophomores to the Biltmore Ballroom. “It was fun, but kind of stressful,” senior Sloan Balsley said. One upside to driving, though, is “Seeing people’s dresses and listening to music,” Sloan added.
While it was nice to grab a ride, some had complaints. “I was kind of crammed in the back seat,” Landon said. Lee was quick to jump in and passionately add, “They put me in the back seat too! I did not fit in there, and [I had to] climb over the chairs.” They went on to bond over their discomfort for a solid 3 and a half minutes. This must have been a universal (and apparently traumatic) experience for the sophomore boys, because I know my date was also in the third row in our car.
Once people were dropped off at the dance, they had the option to go eat food. I beelined, hoping for an array of options (if you know me, this tracks). The menu consisted of buffalo chicken sliders, French fries, salad, and fruit. Overall, it was definitely better than the freshman dance, where many described the chicken as a very specific “rubbery” texture.
There was also a live band that played a mix of classic and pop songs. Many agreed that they liked this year’s music the best compared to freshman year. What seemed to be the favorite song overall was “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers. While Serena Gore agreed, there was a not-so-bright side to the song (pardon the pun). “A lot of people crowd surfing fell on me, so that wasn’t great,” she said.
Overall, this year’s PDC was a great experience. Despite the stress of getting ready (not for Landon or Lee) or just the endless logistics, Sophomore PDC received positive feedback.
The night did go on, but to paraphrase the words of Jacob Ying, who wrote about freshman PDC, this is where we wrap things up.
