Czech Prom: so two broads walk into a ball...

January is Prom season in the Czech Republic, for reasons that have been explained to me, but that I still don’t entirely understand, most schools have their senior prom, or ball, as they call it, between New Years and Valentines Day. Nothing like darning a 10,000kc gown and heading out in the ice and snow, a full 18 weeks before you actually graduate to celebrate graduation! Ahh, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Before I go on, please take a moment to remember your own senior prom, and or some typical teen drama prom footage; having trouble? That’s probably because the prom in the US, while iconic, isn’t really that big a deal, and many students don’t go for a variety of reasons, ranging from financial, general disenchantment with the whole idea, inability to get a date, inability to find a date that is young enough to be allowed in, etc. Now that you have a picture of the event in question in your mind, just toss that idea out the window, because the Czech prom is something quite unique.

For starters, there’s the preparation; Czech students spend a year, sometimes more, preparing for this event by learning how to dance. The students take dance classes on Friday evening intermittently throughout the school year with their classmates.* They learn to the Waltz, Rumba, Salsa, ballroom styles of every kind. The two fifteen year old girls that I tutor are already taking classes. After class, it’s usual to see overdressed teens mucking up the ambiance at every restaurant and pub in town. On my last birthday, while out with a friend, I watched as two drunkedy-drunk school girls, took turns falling off their bar stools, while their equally impaired friends tried to help them up. (Clearly it was a dance night- which I unfortunately had to share my birthday festivities with).

Finding the perfect dress for the prom is another challenge, here in Pardubice, there are a few shops which carry the required and desired attire, but the cost is astronomical when you consider the average monthly wage is about 22,000kc gross and a nice dress is about 10,000kc, easily half mom or dad’s salary and about the same amount one would pay for rent on a small flat. Most students will rent their dresses, which is still pretty expensive, but to get the best dress, the girls start shopping early. In the case of the eightteen year old girls I tutor, they picked out their dressed over the summer, and still didn’t get their first choice!

Once prom night 2010 finally rolled around, it was a miserably cold icy night, I was thrilled that I only had to walk across the street to what used to be a public swimming pool, but has been since turned into a ball room. I invited Helen, a British teacher friend, who was similarly excited to witness this spectacle. I was invited by another of my students that I used to teach in the evenings. Helen and I were taken aback by how incredibly formal the students were dressed. I once wore a suede strapless mini with spiked hooker heals to a formal school dance. Another time I wore terry cloth bedroom slippers, just to be a disrespectful asshole and as weird as possible, oh and then there was the time I wore an Elvira inspired dress with a cape, oh and who could forget the punk rock troll corsage with real red radishes- very smelly- exxxxcelllant! (Thanks Tom). So this was quite a sight for me to see the students taking a school sponsored event so seriously. Once inside we noticed that there were several bars, but mostly it was the parents boozing it up, the students seemed well mannered. Helen remarked that we should come to this bar every weekend; after all there was a live band, dancing, and no smoking!


The prom officialy kicked off with a high energy techno dance number perform by pre-pubescent overly made-up girls in what we thought were kind of slutty outfits. (I think Mrs Allen was responsible for costume and makeup*) Helen stood mouth agape and said in the most maternal voice ever, “You can see those girls’ knickers, what are they thinking with those costumes?” Then a word or two from the principle, maybe a song or two from the band, and then it was time for the real show! Each graduating class came to the floor and performed a dance number. The first class did Chicago, complete with feathered boas and zoot-suits. The second class did Mama-Mia, the third class performed Thriller, much to my delight. After each class finished, each student was individually recognized. The MC would call them by their full name and they would walk down the aisle as if they had just won a Oscar, as they walked family and friends throw coins at them- violently with dangerous velicity, and sometimes from the second floor balcony! Several girls almost slipped on the coins in combination with their already cumbersome long dresses. Once they reached the podium, they received a long stem rose and a Miss America-esk sash with their class year, and their knick-name on the back. A picture is taken and off they go (back to school for another semester despite this recognition of their completion of high school).

After each student has been recognized, there's a special dance where student dances with their mother or father, this was interesting to watch, we really are our parents' children, it was so evident who was related to who. Mom in leather pants and a halter top dances with long haired metal son, the next top model dances with her hunky dad, my super tall student dances with the only man in the room taller than her, her father, etc. This seemed to be the last formality of the evening, after that it was time to get sloppy drunk and dance until 2am. It was around this point that Helen and I found ourselves hanging with the parents, enjoyable- yes, but also an association we were not comfortable with, so we thought it was time to call it a night.

I was really glad I got this chance to go to a Czech Prom, it made me feel sort of sad for American students, because this is what Prom should be. This was a celebration, a rite of passage, not a rite of privilege. It was open to absolutely everyone and everyone danced, everyone had a partner, everyone looked smashing, and I really like how each class seemed to have a sense of camaraderie. This was not a popularity contest, there was no king or queen, just a bunch of students dancing and celebrating together with their families... their banker, their barber, and their baker, each standing by proudly snapping pictures. When I asked my girls if they know everyone in their class, they all say; yes of course. When I tell them there are people I probably had classes with that I never learned their name, this idea seemed impossible to them. I had to explain that American high school students have 7different classes, each with different teachers and different students in each, thus, you know the names of those you run with, probably the names or faces of the cool kids, maybe a few of the super scandalous kids whose reputation proceeds them, but most of which, you would be unlikely to ever have a single conversation with, and would promptly forget their name upon graduation anyway. These students seem to really appreciate these friendships, and their teachers, it’s nice to see. American could really learn something from the Czechs.

(picture from the prom can be viewed here in the Pardubice album.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=591285583#!/album.php?aid=276766&id=591285583


*High School student in the Czech Republic, like many other parts of Europe, are tracked, therefore, they usually go to school with the same 40-50 students throughout their the tenure of their high school experience, so they all know each other quite well. Additionally, they have the same teachers that follow them from year to year. In Czech high school the teachers change classrooms, rather than the other way around as it is in the U.S. In this was the student also forms a close bond with their teacher as well as their classmates. Evidenced by the seemly constant high school reunions that people my age seem to be attending as often as once a month, but at least once a year.

*Mrs Allen was the coach of the drill team of the high school I attended and famous for loading the girls up with makeup, outfitting them is gogo boots fishnets and having them wear matching wigs.