My First Debut

Tonight, I attended my very first debut. It was a culture burst and very entertaining. For those of you who are not familiar with this celebration, a debut is short for a debuatante ball. At this ball, a debutante, which is the French word for "female beginner", is formally presented or "comes out" to her community on her 18th birthday. It is traditionally held in the upper classes for the purposes of displaying the young woman off to eligible bachelors. Many different cultures have embraced this ball.

The debut I attended was held in honor of the daughter of my Filipino neighbors. After a blessing and dinner, a series of musical and dance performances took place, including a waltz done by the debutante, her escort, and her court (nine couples, for a total of 18 people all together, including debutante couple). A candle and rose ceremony followed, in which 18 roses were presented to the debuantante by males and 18 candles were lit by the males' partner.

I felt that remnants of the debut's traditionally purposes came through at times making the night seem like a show of sorts, where the debutante is the star of the production and the guests are the audience. With that said, it was really cool to be able to witness all of this. I learned so much about the importance and structure of this event that I would have never have known about otherwise.