Masquerade Ball

I still remember going to the Capitol Theater to watch Phantom of the Opera with the family.  One of the scenes that I remember the most was the scene in which the actors are all in a masquerade ball.  Since that time I’ve always thought that attending a masquerade ball would be a fair amount of fun.

Debbie several weeks ago sent an invitation to go to a masquerade ball that was to be held at This is the Place State Park this past weekend. My immediate thought was, “Hey, that could be a lot of fun!” Shortly followed by the realization that it was a formal so I would have to attend in a suit. Despite this drawback I determined that it would still be fun.

I managed to invite a young lady to go the formal masquerade ball with me as a date. We had grand plans to manufacture exotic masks that would amaze all other attendees.  Unfortunately the young lady canceled on me and I was left dateless…and more importantly maskless.  It appeared that my masquerade experience would have to wait until the next opportunity.  Then Debbie went and ruined my martyrdom by letting me know that it was not a date dance…aka I could still go dateless. So I hurried up and got ready for the dance. 15 minutes later, my suit on, I checked on how Debbie’s preparations were coming. I was immediately reminded why I was glad I’m a guy instead of a gal. Between the hairdressing, the make-up, and the gowning Debbie lost 2 hours of her day. Of course; the efforts turned out really well.

Attending the dance shattered some of my delusions.  I  envisioned at least a token bow towards the traditional dances performed at masquerade balls.  The waltzes, the huge fancy line dances, ect. Much to my disappointment I found that the music would follow the typical pattern of high school dances;  long stretches of hip hop music followed by an occasional slow song or country song.  I just don’t understand why the dominant music played at school and church dances is music that you can’t even dance effectively to. Seems counterproductive to me. We did manage to have fun despite this however.