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Like any production, backstage at a ball is where the real drama takes place. Brainstorming, bitching, bonding – the months and meetings that form the foundations of a ball are equally as action-packed as the minutes that make up the night.
On an evening like last Saturday, when Oxford witnessed six competing balls, the pressure on a ball committee to perform is immense.
The team needs attractions booked, entertainments lined up, sponsors involved, launch parties organised, alcohol licensed – all this months in advance.
In the immediate run up to the ball, ticket sales become the priority. Pidges and bike baskets are littered with flyers. Ball t-shirts and hoodies appear all over Oxford.
Facebook is a great tool for free advertising – posters replace profile pictures, status updates count down the days, and event groups send out messages updating you on the limited number of tickets available.
There’s a fine line between promotion and overkill though; some balls have been known to be that little bit too keen, causing people to leave their event in frustration at the ten messages, spamming their inbox daily.
When it comes to the actual night, the committee faces its biggest task yet– creating an atmosphere. A ball without an atmosphere is as enjoyable as a film without a plot.
It is not enough to have flash entertainments or spectacular décor, creating a mood that people can lose themselves in is vital.
That’s not to regulate the kind of tone that would work; some balls are known as gateways to old Oxford glamour, others for a night of all things drunk and debauched courtesy of unlimited free cocktails, several are little more than an exercise in networking (albeit often under the guise of a fundraiser).
Whichever type you opt for, though, it’s the atmosphere or lack thereof that can make or break a ball. Ultimately a ball, like so many other Oxford pastimes, is based on a premise of escapism. It’s a night that whisks you away to another time and place, takes you on a journey.
Just as adverts for big brands like Nokia, Smirnoff and Honda are following the trend of evolutionary voyages in the marketing world, so it seems the Oxford ball has evolved into an holiday package, taking you ‘Around the world in 80 days’ or transporting you back in time to ‘Moulin Rouge’ and the days of excess of the ‘Silk Road Exhibition’.
The people that come to a ball are the biggest contributors to its atmosphere. It is not uncommon for winners of free tickets in raffle draws to be strategically chosen for their social pulling power, nor is it unheard of for ball committees to target groups of people for ticket sales – blues rowers, union hacks, thesps and so on.
The category a ball falls under will play a part in attracting various groups of people. Moreover guests’ conceptions of a ball, resulting from the type of ball it is, will play a significant role in conditioning the ambiance on the night. Commemoration balls are the classic Trinity occasion, a ninth week tradition that has lasted for decades.
Over the past few years the classic commemoration balls of Magdalen and New have been great successes, but this year there are four big balls: Christ Church, Trinity, Worcester and St John’s.
Some would argue that St Johns is not historically a commemoration ball and so should be treated as no more than a grand-scale college ball. Either way, the ticket prices alone elevate John’s ball into the league of the big-players.
College balls such as the five held last Saturday tend to be more understated affairs, with a large number of ticket sales guaranteed by the College’s own contingent and their guests. There are less calls for major entertainment acts, and more for a night of good fun with lots of smaller attractions to keep people diverted throughout the night.
Charity balls have had a strong showing this term, with Hands Up for Dafurs evening in First Week gaining a lot of exposure. Societies often host annual balls that are marketed as charity events, all profits going to a related organization. The Majlis ‘Spice Ball’, a non-college ball of last Saturday, was one such ball.
Continuing in the Asian society’s tradition of hosting an annual ball, an evening was put on at the Town Hall, all profits going to TravelAid Nepal and Zindigi India.
Entz are often touted as the major selling point of a ball. At some college balls where it’s easy to get lost from your friends with little effort the emphasis has turned to providing people with fun distractions.
The advantage is that it avoids the awkward need to and mill around having the same conversation over and over (How was your vac? Enjoying term? What are your plans for the summer?).
Still, for a ball committee there is always a debate over the balance to strike between a couple of ‘big entz’ and a host of ‘smaller ents’.
Whilst commemoration balls have license to play their cards close to their chests, aware that their historical pulling power holds great appeal when selling tickets, there appear to be come differences in their approaches for this year’s Commemoration Week.
The Trinity ‘Illusion’ Ball will host laser quest and dodgems as two big attractions that will certainly attract big crowds throughout the night, in addition to promising a headlining stadium act.
St John’s, on the other hand, has this year adopted a different approach to the current trends for journey balls. Entitled simply The Ball 2008, their 9th week sell-out extravaganza has been cleverly marketed to make an impact, but is there really anything new and entertaining about henna artists, tarot card readers and magicians?
The novelty soon wears off, even when you are being provided with unlimited alcohol from dusk till dawn.
Thankfully St Johns, like all the commemoration balls, has the power to attract big sponsors and to sell tickets with prices in the hundreds, allowing for greater financial resources to splash out on bigger entertainments and promises of international acts to give their guests a spectacular evening.
With Worcester and Christ Church also competing for the commemoration crown, all four of the big commemoration balls are guaranteed sell-outs. Promising headlining acts against a backdrop of decadence, luxury and class, it is at this stage a close call for which will be the best.
It is, though, certain that – more so than for any other kind of ball – for a commemoration ball it will be the atmosphere on the night that determines its success.
