The sounds of One Direction, Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift resonated throughout the halls of Weyerhaeuser for the annual Awkward Middle School Dance on the evening of March 1.

The Awkward Middle School Dance has been a long-standing tradition put on by the residence halls of Ballard and McMillan (BMac). Similar to the BMac haunted house, this event involves the community’s help for ideas and decorations.

“It was especially important for me this year to get help because I’m not very artistic and I wanted to make some pretty cool posters that were relevant to the years of 2011 to 2013,” said Katie Rose, the senator of Ballard and coordinator of the event.

The dance, usually held in Graves Gym, was located in Weyerhaeuser because the gym has become too old and unstable for a dance.

Music and dancing was in Avista Square while the movie Twilight played within the Robinson Teaching Theater. Hand-made posters draped along the walls, representing classic middle school brands: Converse, Aeropostale, Axe Deodorant and more.

In the hallways, students could stop by a photo booth or grab some snacks, which consisted of Cosmic Brownies and Go-Gurts. Silly Bands were scattered across the snack table as an optional addition to students’ middle school themed outfits.

“I really liked how everyone was loving it, it really hypes you up,” said junior Vanessa Figueroa.

The event created a vibrant atmosphere of multicolored lights with loud singing as people enthusiastically danced to music from their middle school years.

“The music was really good and spot on,” said sophomore Emma Zenonian. “It was all the right songs.”

At the end of the day, the Awkward Middle School Dance provided students a way to look back on middle school life and remember old memories.