WV Ball Character Request Form, 2026

The theme for the World View Ball by Mr. Tillman to be held on Friday, Feb 6, 2026, is a Murder Mystery Masquerade.  There are some requirements for you to know, but they differ depending upon whether you are part of my academic classes (World View Studies) or are simply a dance student.

Academic students (whether you are coming to the ball or not) must:

• Pick 3 possible characters that fit these guidelines:  Each character must be:
  • Detective character from a literary novel or an author of such a book.
  • Your own birth-gender. 
• Do this very soon.
• Get your character request approved by submitting the request to me.  Depending upon where you see the information about the ball, you might see some instruction to submit the request directly to Mr. Tillman.  DO NOT DO THAT.  Submit it to me.  Do this very soon so you have a good chance to get your desired character.  Generally, the first of your characters that meets all the guidelines will be approved.
• Write an essay about that character and email it to me as a normal essay you would write.  This is not due until January.
• Participate in daytime dance lessons.  They are free.
• If you have not yet filled out the waiver form, you must turn this in before the ball.
• Academic students are not required to actually attend the ball, but if you do, you will need to purchase a ticket and make/purchase/rent a costume for the ball.  The costumes need to be appropriate for what the character would wear to a formal ball of the time period they would have lived. 

Dance students must, if you wish to come to the ball:

• Pick 3 possible characters per the description above.
• Submit the request to me per above description.
• No essay is required.
• Participate in daytime dance lessons or convince me that you already know the dances.
• Purchase ticket
• Make/purchase/rent a costume per the above instructions.
• Of course, dance students are not required to come to the ball, but if you do, you must follow the above requirements.

To submit a character request (list three to increase your chance for approval), copy the following text into an email and send it to me:

Your name: _________________

Going to the ball?: ____________

First request: ___________________________

Wikipedia link or other helpful info on this character: ______________

Second request: _________________________

Wikipedia link or other helpful info on this character: ______________

Third request: ___________________________

Wikipedia link or other helpful info on this character: ______________

You'll get an email back that will indicate which character was approved for you.

When selecting a character, make sure that character is not already coming.  Check here for characters that have already been approved and make sure your requests are NOT on this list.