First published on Tuesday 15 June 1999:

Having a Ball

AFTER final exams, the second most important event of a university career is the annual summer ball.

With the long holiday only weeks away it could be the last chance to make a move on that object of desire, usually only monitored across the lecture theatre.

Around 2,400 students from Southampton University donned their dinner jackets and evening gowns and headed to Poole for the social event of the year.

After last year's mudbath at Broadlands in Romsey the extravaganza was moved to the Poole Arts Centre. Women favoured a combination of silk ball gowns, slinky, figure-hugging outfits and club wear with a touch of glitter and flowers.

The latest fashions in dresses, shoes and hair were on display throughout the evening.

For the men, the conventional dinner suits were enlivened by the odd kilt and John Virgo-style waist-coats. The evening got into full swing with an energetic live set from top indie band Terrorvision. Their chart topping single Tequila went down a storm, but to try to obtain a shot of that, or any other drink at the bar, was a stiff challenge.

All the elegance of the ball was discarded as the dance floor vibrated with students jumping to the indie beat.

With a floorshow featuring characters from Planet of the Apes and a balloon-modelling expert, Republica made their entrance. Vocalist Saffron belted a string of hits, including Ready To Go and Drop Dead Gorgeous.

However, the evening was marred by a shortage of alcohol and students had to queue for more than 50 minutes for a drink.

One of the two bars also had to close half way through the night because it had virtually run out of all drinks. Vice-president of the student union Paul Curtis said: "The evening went very well but because of the fact the queues were so long for drinks you could not move left or right.

"With everyone queuing the temperature just rose through the roof. It was not our fault and we will be looking into what we can do about it."

Programme director at Poole Arts Centre Alistair Wilkinson said: "We accept the bars were over-whelmed through the evening and restocking was a problem. We had a university ball in 1996 and we based it on that that experience but the students drank double."

More student ball pictures in Social Diary in The Magazine on Saturday.

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.