The Capulet Masquerade ball was an initiative of the English Department and was designed to help all S1 students understand and interact with Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet.

All the students had to wear a costume from the Elizabethan period or modern formal attire and a mask. It was held on Wednesday, April 28th and started at 1.30 in the afternoon. It was held at the Capulets' Berkeley Mansion otherwise known as the school's cafetorium!

"Although the Ball was fun at the time," Destiny Smith noted, "the ball itself wasn't anywhere near as fun as preparing for it.

"In addition to having to watch the DVD and reading sections of the play, my class was chosen to perform one of the many wonderful traditional dances that they did back in the Elizabethan time period.

"We practised and practised until it became natural, like walking or breathing, and continued to practise to the music of Beethoven.

"We also made invitations. We typed them up in a very sophisticated font and then put them in a tub of water with tea bags.

"We left them to soak until they were a light brown. After they were dry, we rolled them and tied them with twine, and hand delivered them to teachers and staff around the school.

"Boys had to bow and girls had to curtsy, and then we had to say, 'My Lord and Lady Capulet have asked me to deliver this to thee'. As well as making invitations and dancing," Destiny added, "we also had to make masks to wear to the Masquerade Ball".

"I had a really hard time coming up with a design for my mask, so instead of constructing my own mask, I decided to put fabric on a frame I had bought.

"After I cut the nose and eyes out, I covered it with feathers and one bow on the side. It was perfect," and, in fact won first prize.

Destiny continued: "I recently discovered that finding a modest, long, but still flattering, dress was really hard. I pieced together many things to make my dress look traditional to the Elizabethan time period, but still look nice on me. "

Derik Dill recalled the afternoon's proceedings: "It was a very interesting afternoon; the 'guests' entered the ballroom to musicians playing violins.

"They were greeted at the door by Lord and Lady Capulet, who later welcomed all the guests and introduced the various entertainment selections.

"The first group to perform were the violinists, who were students of the school, accompanied by their music teacher.

"The afternoon's entertainment also included performances on the piano, singing, recitation of sonnets written by students and the dramatisation of some of the scenes from the play performed by S1 students.

"The funniest scene was Romeo Must Die. I liked that scene because it was like a modern version of what would happen, and it was very funny. Romeo's first love, Rosaline, appeared back on the scene to confront Romeo about Juliet. It was hilarious.

Masquerade Ball Winners

Most original Mask:

First Place: Destiny Smith

Second Place: Ebony Jones

Third Place: Sidney Mello

Fourth Place: Allana Bean

Best Costume

First Place: Sidney Mello

Second Place: Kayjuna Lema

Third Place: Zaire Bean

Fourth Place: Precious Cooper