To end the semester on a good note, the International Baccalaureate Student Organization (IBSO) hosted the annual IB Ball in the atrium on Wednesday, Dec. 19. Inspired by the 2013 Met Gala, IBSO brought the theme ‘Chaos to Couture’ before the attendees’ eyes through several coordinated amenities, such as a photo booth, retro dance floor, and vintage mannequins. The anticipated night brought hours of fun to IB students and created lasting memories.

“This year’s ‘Chaos to Couture’ theme was inspired by the 2013 Met Gala in which the theme was Punk: Chaos to Couture. We envisioned a kind of high fashion style but with a funky, out of the box twist that left it up to interpretation,” Jenny Wang ‘19 said. “In terms of decoration, we thought it would be fun to have graffiti (Chaos) but also incorporate portraits of fashion icons (Couture) that make an appearance.”

To carry out the dance, IBSO had begun planning a month in advance and divided itself into several committees. Having divided the tasks allowed for the mural, snacks, and dance floor to run successfully during the dance.

“We had been planning the ball since a month before, creating different committees for the decorations, mural, and music,” Kate Lee ‘19 said. “The busiest time was of course right before the ball on the day of — a bunch of us stayed back and set up Christmas lights all around and moved mannequins and painted poster board. It took a lot of planning and teamwork but it was definitely worth it.”

To achieve a well-attended dance, IBSO officers spread the word during shared IB classes and publicized it through chic paper fliers.

“The IB Officer team decided to use a set of physical flyers passed out in various IB classrooms, announcements by various IB officers, and of course official Westwood IB email to inform students and parents,” Pritika Paramasivam ‘19 said. “The goal is to have as most of the IB student body to come as possible. I am satisfied with the number of people who attended and I thought we all had a good time to celebrate the end of the semester.”

The IB Ball provided much-needed entertainment to IB Students and kickstarted the restful Winter Break.

“My expectations for my last IB Ball never fell short,” Ridha Mirza ‘19 said. “As I entered the dance, I fell in love with the vintage decor and enjoyed seeing my peers out of the usual stressed school setting. Most of all, I loved hogging the photo booth with all of my friends as I can have these memories whenever I’m missing IB.”

Video Courtesy of Chemistry HL.