List of High School Dance Themes

Use a list of high school dance themes to help find unique dance themes and narrow down your options. Get creative with decorations, food, music, and outfits to bring your theme to life.

Themes for Different Types of High School Dances

From a standard high school dance to senior prom, different themes work best for different levels of formality. Make sure your theme can be dressed up or down to match the type of dance you're planning.

Casual High School Dance Themes

• I Mustache You to Dance - Celebrate mustaches and mustache puns.
• YouTube Stars - Everyone dresses as their favorite YouTube star.
• Obscure Sports - Celebrate a quirky sport like croquet or curling.
• Fictional High School - Choose a TV show that features a high school and plan your dance to recreate it.
• Kodak Moment - It's all about photos when you offer up different backgrounds and photo stations with Polaroid and old-school cameras.
• Kids R Us - Celebrate being a kid with a theme that mimics a kid's birthday party or favorite childhood toy.
• Would You Rather? - Have couples dress up as two different options so each couple becomes a walking "Would you rather?' question.
• Worst Trends of All Time - Look back through history for the worst fashion trends and recreate them.
• Biblical Proportions - Dress like Bible characters and decorate to look like a famous Biblical place.

Semi-Formal High School Dance Themes

• Mythological Creatures - Mermaids, dragons, and/or any other made-up creatures are welcome at this masquerade.
• Unconventional Materials - Challenge guests to dress in clothes made from unconventional materials and decorate using these kinds of items.
• Flora and Fauna - Celebrate beautiful plants and animals with semi-formal costumes and decorations.
• Signs of the Zodiac - Each guest wears an outfit inspired by some characteristic of their Zodiac sign.
• Bubbly Bash - You might not be able to drink champagne, but you can use the color, bubbles, and glasses as inspiration.
• Virtual Reality - Guests dress up like a fancier version of their gaming avatars.
• The Upside-Down - Celebrate the dark side of Stranger Things with a dance made for creatures in the Upside-Down.

Formal High School Dance Themes

• Immortal Night - Elegant immortal creatures and beings from vampires to gods will fill the venue.
• Aristocratic Aliens - Create an elite alien race using makeup or masks.
• Good Luck and Fortune - Get inspired by the colors and items sees as symbols of luck in different cultures.
• Pattern Promenade - Skip solids and celebrate beautiful patterns in your attire and other fabrics like table cloths.
• Award Show Imitators - Create an award show venue where guests dress in famous award show outfits or like the awards.
• Bold and Beautiful - Forget neutrals and rock only bold, bright colors.

Unique Themes for Any High School Dance

Any theme can be casual or formal with the right decorations and dress code guidelines. Craft your dance around a fun and innovative seasonal theme.

Original Fall Dance Themes

• Tailgate Party - Host a casual outdoor dance or create a tailgate party in the gym.
• Leaf People - Use leaves as the main source of decoration and to create unique, casual masquerade masks.
• Maze of Fun - Get inspired by corn mazes make a hay bale maze that leads into the casual event.
• Hot in Here - Serve up a hot drinks bar with cider and cocoa in this warm, semi-formal theme.
• These Boots Were Made for Dancing - Celebrate the season of boots in attire and decor for a semi-formal or formal dance.
• Hoodies - Forget ugly sweaters, this season is all about your favorite hoodies.

Uncommon Winter Dance Themes

• Flannel Frenzy - Celebrate the iconic winter pattern in clothing and decorative fabrics for any type of dance.
• Epic Winter Hats - From trapper hats to pom pom hats, let winter hats take center stage at casual dances.
• Long John Love - Celebrate the old-fashioned answer to winter warmth with long johns at a casual event.
• Winter Olympics - Show off Winter Olympics opening ceremony looks and sports from countries around the globe at your semi-formal.
• Reindeer Games - Dress in your best antlers and formal attire and have fun playing games associated with winter or Christmas.
• The Gift of Dance - Guests can bring gift donations for needy families and wrap themselves like presents at a semi-formal event.

Unique Spring Dance Themes

• Dancin' in the Rain - Umbrellas and galoshes are welcome in this casual celebration of spring rain.
• Lenten Love - Give up all the decorations and food and focus only on the music at your casual dance.
• Green and Groovy - Combine a hippie theme with shades of green for a semi-formal affair.
• Chalk Party - Celebrate sidewalk chalk with pastel colors, chalk color bombs, and chalk-drawing stations at a casual dance.
• Busy Bees - Dress in black and yellow and crown the "Queen Bee" at your formal dance.
• Lions and Lambs - Use fluffy fabrics in yellows, oranges, reds, and whites to celebrate the beginning and end of March.

Themes Give Life to Dances

High school dances are fun on their own, but when there's a theme it gets teens more excited to participate. Give your secondary school a dance they'll never forget by choosing a unique theme.