The last ever mention of the infamous tolo dance happening here at Lake Stevens High School was the year 2016. Tolo is when the girl asks the guy to the dance— formal poster and all; however, LSHS has gone away from it. Many students want this traditional dance to replace the newly called “winter non-formal dance”.
“It’s like a placeholder for homecoming and prom,” senior Gililian Echols said.
The dance tolo got changed to be now known as the winter dance a while ago at LSHS, yet the school has received large amounts of backlash for getting rid of the original tolo dance. The winter dance has been canceled the past two years straight due to not nearly enough tickets sold.
Part of the reason this winter dance hasn’t done so well in previous and current years is because it’s non-formal, and students aren’t too excited to be spending more time at school. That’s essentially what’s happening when we lessen the aspect of getting dressed up, taking pictures, going to dinner and going dancing with friends.
“I like the dress etiquette, like formal no jeans or like day-to-day clothes. I like the way everyone tries to dress up,” senior Lucas Wilson said.
Students like the idea of asking other students, and one of the main reasons LSHS got away from it is that it was excluding other students from going. This simply isn’t true. The tolo dance is not a required “girls must ask the guy”. You can only go if you ask the guy, or you can only go with a guy. This is what the school is worried about. Gender exclusivity and excluding others in general.
“I think that it’s nice that they care about their students and that everyone deserves to be loved,” senior Oliver Hanson said.
While we understand the concern and want the best for everyone here at LSHS, no one is excluded or stopped at the door to any dance for any such reason listed above. Everyone is always welcome. Simply adding the name tolo to a flyer, some students will know what it means and participate in the tradition, and others won’t and will still go and have a great time. That’s okay!
“I feel like some people would have something to say, but if it were me, I wouldn’t really care,” junior Gabe Phelps said.
Senior Giulia Borghini agrees that at LSHS, no one is excluded for any reason, regardless of whether they follow the tradition or not; we all simply want a dance that is formal and traditional in order to have a great time with our peers in a safe and fun environment.
Tolo is a fun tradition to welcome excitement to the school’s environment and engage students with each other outside of the strict academic learning environment. Bringing Tolo back would be a petition many students would sign!
