Adults looking to bury prom memories gearing up for ball season

MONTREAL - The high school prom season is approaching and university student Julie Alsop is picking out a dress.

Two years ago, she flew solo at her high school prom after a friend bailed on her at the last minute.

But thanks to a Montreal pseudo prom for adults, Alsop is getting another shot at the big night.

"I found out a week before that he was going with someone else, so it was too late to get another date," she said.

"I suppose this is a redo for me."

Grown-ups looking to rekindle - or bury - high-school prom memories will dust off old dresses, buy corsages and sway to Sinead O'Connor this graduation season.

As this year's crop of high-school grads scrambles to finalize glitzy plans for the prom, mature partygoers with fewer inhibitions say they now know what it takes to have the night of their life.

"You get to re-enact an old trauma and have a happy ending," said Sherwin Tjia, co-organizer of Slow Dance Prom, which unfolds Friday in Montreal.

"Basically, it's high school with a happy ending."

From the spinning mirror ball, to the $2 condom corsages, to the cheesy backdrop of the photo booth, the shindig will feel almost like the real thing, he said.

The event is one in an "almost monthly" series of slow dance parties created last fall by Tjia and friend Amber Goodwyn.

"Some people have told us that they've danced more at one slow dance (party) than they had in their entire high school life," said Tjia, a poet and painter.

He compares the dances to speed dating, except you can feel how prospects move and "smell them up close."

If someone asks you for another dance, you're in, he said.

Six years ago, Dylan Reibling and Joel MacDonald were looking for an excuse to throw a party in a bar, so they concocted Toronto's annual Fake Prom.

Fake Prom also strives for authenticity with its king and queen selection, cover band and balloon archway, Reibling said.

"It's kind of like a chance to revisit all the traditions, but later on in life when you're a little bit more confident and have a better idea of who you are," he said.

"It's creating a space for people to step outside of their normal quotidian, social roles."

Reibling said last year's event, held in August, attracted 750 people decked out in gowns and tuxes.

Fake Prom was originally designed to cater to the punk and indie rock scene, but Reibling says it now attracts a "full gamut" of guests.

He said dancers have gone all out for themes that have included "An Enchanted Evening" and "Under the Sea."

"Someone came with a dress that had a bunch of baggies of fish stapled to it," he said. "Live fish, which was wild."

Tjia, meanwhile, said slow dance parties are also popular with people who just want to be held.

"Touching is complicated in our society because you can't really hold strangers on the street," he said.

"It's just weird, right? You'd get arrested for that. We're trying to create this space."

Goodwyn said 150 people showed up for the last slow dance party and 500 dancers are expected at this week's prom, which would be a sellout for the rented hall.

Volunteer "resident dancers" will also be on hand for those standing alone on the sidelines. She said it's part of an effort to avoid replaying awkward high-school moments.