Olivia Nilsen, senior, giggled while walking into the Commons with her date Evan Morris, senior, last February. She was not expecting Turnabout to be comparable to Prom or Homecoming. However, she soon found out it would be one of the best dances of the year.

Last year was the first year in many years that Turnabout took place. The event was planned all around the theme of The Great Gatsby.

This year, the dance will be held in the Commons on Saturday, Feb. 7 from seven to 10 p.m.

“We are going to have Turnabout again this year because it was so successful last year. I even had some students after the dance say that they enjoyed it more than homecoming,” Mr. Hudson, senior principal, said.

Behind all the planning, setting up, and cleaning up is Hudson, and his club Marquette Academic and Cultural Club (MACC).

The new tradition was created when a few senior girls came to Hudson and brought up the idea of another dance. For turnabout, rather than the guys asking the girls, the girls ask the guys.

There were about 300 people that filled the commons last February. Hudson hopes even more will show up this year.

“We hope to have 500 to 600 people come,” Hudson said, “Many people danced the entire 3 hours last year which was great.”

Hudson said there will be a spirit week during the week of the dance including twin day, tacky day, get up and go day, throwback day and an all-out Mardi Gras day.

Chelsea Cade, one of the member’s of Hudson’s club, is helping organize the dance. Cade said that the club typically spends an hour and a half a week planning for the dance.

The money raised from the dance covers all expenses and contributes to funds for students in MACC to visit colleges. Each ticket is $10 and will be sold a few weeks prior to the dance..

Along with spirit week, Cade said Hudson will be handing out free tickets during lunch periods.

The dance will have a Mardi Gras backdrop with giant Mardi Gras masks for pictures.

“The dance is a little more different than Homecoming because it is more casual and more like a mixer,” Cade said.

Nilsen said she is happy she did not have the dance her freshman and sophomore year because then it would just be like Homecoming and expected every year.

“We got more excited about it because it was new and a reason to get dressed up,” Nilsen said, “The boys get really into it because they get to pick where they want to eat. They usually pick really nice places just because we have to pay for it.”