(Im)poster
06-06-2003, 04:40 PM
http://www.techzonez.com/forums/images/smilies/assshake.gif Booty dancing has become mainstream according to this article I saw today. But is it alright for kids to do at the prom?
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Rick Hinson stood on the stage next to the disc
jockey, flashlight at the ready. Below him on the dance floor, a river of
writhing, cavorting, giggling teenagers was living it up. ¶
It was the Independence High School prom, and the 1,500 or so
students gathered at the Oasis Shriner's Temple in Charlotte recently were
determined to have themselves a blast. ¶
The veteran principal squinted through the swirling strobe lights,
watching for what he knew, sooner or later, he would see: That dancing. The
kind kids seem to love doing these days, where the girl turns her back to
the boy, bends forward slightly at the waist and wiggles her bottom against
the boy's forward-thrusting pelvis. ¶
Freak-dancing, some kids call it. ¶
Hinson has his own word for it: ¶
Filthy. Filthy filthy filthy. ¶
A couple months back, he shut down one school party early because of
it and called the offending dancers' parents. The parents were grateful, the
dancers embarrassed. ¶
He wasn't going to tolerate such dancing at the prom, either. ¶
When a girl in a satiny aqua dress and a slim boy in a white tuxedo
began dancing that way right in front of the stage, Hinson clicked on his
flashlight and aimed its white beam at the couple's faces. ¶
They parted, and Hinson leaned down and tapped the boy on the
shoulder, then motioned for him to come to the side of the stage. ¶
"Time for a little prayer meeting," the principal said as he headed
that way. ¶
The boy met Hinson with a wide-eyed, what-did-I-do look on his face.
¶
"Not good," Hinson told him. "Filthy. Not good." ¶
The boy just stared. Hinson leaned closer, then told the boy he
smelled alcohol on his breath. ¶
He led the boy away. Time to call the parents. ¶
The boy's dance partner, junior Dianna Texidor from nearby Vance
High, looked on, wondering what was happening. She wasn't too thrilled when
told the principal had objected to their dancing. ¶
"I think that he's wrong," she said. "That's the way you dance." ¶
Her friend Juliana Moceton, a West Charlotte High junior, agreed. ¶
"If he would have grown up in our time," she said, "he would do the
same thing." ¶
Dianna added: "You gotta do what you need to do to have fun." ¶
Juliana nodded. ¶
"That's the modern dance kids do now. That's what all the kids are
doing," she said. ¶
For Hinson and some other adults, that's exactly the problem. Teen
dance styles are growing increasingly suggestive. Kids of all socioeconomic
backgrounds and races are freak-dancing, from inner city high schools to the
suburbs to the rural areas. ¶
Schools around the country have been struggling to police it at
dances. ¶
During prom season, the debate moves front and center. ¶
Last year, one Washington-area high school even compiled a specific
list of dance moves that would be prohibited at its prom. ¶
The banned moves themselves supply instant visuals of what's
involved: No "grinding," "doggy dancing," "front piggy-backing," "hiking up
skirts" or "hands on the floor." ¶
A school in Michigan required students to pass a test on proper
dancing before going to the prom. And in San Diego, officials placed an
assistant principal on administrative leave after she was accused of lifting
female dancers' skirts to check for thong underwear. She said she was trying
to keep kids from exposing themselves on the dance floor. ¶
Hinson, like many adults, blames today's teen music, dominated by
rap artists and their intensively rhythmic beats. He often watches MTV for a
preview of the next campus trends, and finds his kids are doing the same
dances he sees on the videos. ¶
"They'd never dance that way in front of their parents," he said in
an interview. "Some of the dances are as close as you can come to copying
the act of sex itself. It's really filthy, in my opinion. It may be the
wave, but it's a horrible wave." ¶
He's learned one trick: Switch the music to break it up. ¶
At the prom, some freak-dancers groaned and left the floor after
Hinson ordered the DJ to switch from rap to the Village People's disco
classic, "YMCA." At another point, the rock classic "Sweet Home Alabama"
suddenly blared from the speakers. ¶
The freak-dancers say adults need to lighten up. ¶
Hinson says some have pointed out to him that dances of his
generation's youth and earlier, such as the Charleston, sparked controversy
because of the amount of suggestive touching. The criticism today's
freak-dancers are getting is no different, they argued, than the flak
teenagers have always caught over their dancing. ¶
Hinson's answer: "I'm not Lincoln, you're not Douglas, and this is
not a debate." ¶
But out on the prom dance floor, kids were sticking to their point -
and their partners, whenever Hinson and his roving assistant principals
weren't nearby. ¶
"They're not dancing too sexy," said Jonathan Gregory, an
Independence High senior. "It's just dancing." ¶
His friend, Garinger High senior Fatundra Ford, acknowledged that it
sometimes looks like more - especially when girls start hiking their dresses
along their thighs. ¶
"Some kids, they take it to another level, and it's just nasty," she
said, giggling. "It's like grinding with their clothes on." ¶
A short distance away, several couples on the dance floor seemed
determined to prove her point. ¶
A dark-haired girl in a sparkly tiara and a red satin dress swiveled
her backside slowly and suggestively against her dance partner, almost as if
she were imitating the "lap dances" of topless bar performers. ¶
As the pace of the music picked up, another couple started
freak-dancing nearby. The boy, minus his tuxedo jacket, fell gracefully
backward, placed one palm on the floor and danced that way for a few
seconds, all without losing time to the beat or contact with his partner's
behind. ¶
A few steps away, a girl in a blue satin dress was bent forward,
dancing with her palms on her thighs. The boy behind her gripped her across
the stomach with one hand. ¶
Hinson believes when kids dance that way, they are showing
disrespect for each other and themselves. He knows, however, that he's
slogging uphill in trying to convince students of that. ¶
Even so, as long as he's in charge, he will continue to stop any
freak-dancers he catches. ¶
He thinks he knows when they will finally see things his way: ¶
"When they have children." ¶
--- ¶
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Rick Hinson stood on the stage next to the disc
jockey, flashlight at the ready. Below him on the dance floor, a river of
writhing, cavorting, giggling teenagers was living it up. ¶
It was the Independence High School prom, and the 1,500 or so
students gathered at the Oasis Shriner's Temple in Charlotte recently were
determined to have themselves a blast. ¶
The veteran principal squinted through the swirling strobe lights,
watching for what he knew, sooner or later, he would see: That dancing. The
kind kids seem to love doing these days, where the girl turns her back to
the boy, bends forward slightly at the waist and wiggles her bottom against
the boy's forward-thrusting pelvis. ¶
Freak-dancing, some kids call it. ¶
Hinson has his own word for it: ¶
Filthy. Filthy filthy filthy. ¶
A couple months back, he shut down one school party early because of
it and called the offending dancers' parents. The parents were grateful, the
dancers embarrassed. ¶
He wasn't going to tolerate such dancing at the prom, either. ¶
When a girl in a satiny aqua dress and a slim boy in a white tuxedo
began dancing that way right in front of the stage, Hinson clicked on his
flashlight and aimed its white beam at the couple's faces. ¶
They parted, and Hinson leaned down and tapped the boy on the
shoulder, then motioned for him to come to the side of the stage. ¶
"Time for a little prayer meeting," the principal said as he headed
that way. ¶
The boy met Hinson with a wide-eyed, what-did-I-do look on his face.
¶
"Not good," Hinson told him. "Filthy. Not good." ¶
The boy just stared. Hinson leaned closer, then told the boy he
smelled alcohol on his breath. ¶
He led the boy away. Time to call the parents. ¶
The boy's dance partner, junior Dianna Texidor from nearby Vance
High, looked on, wondering what was happening. She wasn't too thrilled when
told the principal had objected to their dancing. ¶
"I think that he's wrong," she said. "That's the way you dance." ¶
Her friend Juliana Moceton, a West Charlotte High junior, agreed. ¶
"If he would have grown up in our time," she said, "he would do the
same thing." ¶
Dianna added: "You gotta do what you need to do to have fun." ¶
Juliana nodded. ¶
"That's the modern dance kids do now. That's what all the kids are
doing," she said. ¶
For Hinson and some other adults, that's exactly the problem. Teen
dance styles are growing increasingly suggestive. Kids of all socioeconomic
backgrounds and races are freak-dancing, from inner city high schools to the
suburbs to the rural areas. ¶
Schools around the country have been struggling to police it at
dances. ¶
During prom season, the debate moves front and center. ¶
Last year, one Washington-area high school even compiled a specific
list of dance moves that would be prohibited at its prom. ¶
The banned moves themselves supply instant visuals of what's
involved: No "grinding," "doggy dancing," "front piggy-backing," "hiking up
skirts" or "hands on the floor." ¶
A school in Michigan required students to pass a test on proper
dancing before going to the prom. And in San Diego, officials placed an
assistant principal on administrative leave after she was accused of lifting
female dancers' skirts to check for thong underwear. She said she was trying
to keep kids from exposing themselves on the dance floor. ¶
Hinson, like many adults, blames today's teen music, dominated by
rap artists and their intensively rhythmic beats. He often watches MTV for a
preview of the next campus trends, and finds his kids are doing the same
dances he sees on the videos. ¶
"They'd never dance that way in front of their parents," he said in
an interview. "Some of the dances are as close as you can come to copying
the act of sex itself. It's really filthy, in my opinion. It may be the
wave, but it's a horrible wave." ¶
He's learned one trick: Switch the music to break it up. ¶
At the prom, some freak-dancers groaned and left the floor after
Hinson ordered the DJ to switch from rap to the Village People's disco
classic, "YMCA." At another point, the rock classic "Sweet Home Alabama"
suddenly blared from the speakers. ¶
The freak-dancers say adults need to lighten up. ¶
Hinson says some have pointed out to him that dances of his
generation's youth and earlier, such as the Charleston, sparked controversy
because of the amount of suggestive touching. The criticism today's
freak-dancers are getting is no different, they argued, than the flak
teenagers have always caught over their dancing. ¶
Hinson's answer: "I'm not Lincoln, you're not Douglas, and this is
not a debate." ¶
But out on the prom dance floor, kids were sticking to their point -
and their partners, whenever Hinson and his roving assistant principals
weren't nearby. ¶
"They're not dancing too sexy," said Jonathan Gregory, an
Independence High senior. "It's just dancing." ¶
His friend, Garinger High senior Fatundra Ford, acknowledged that it
sometimes looks like more - especially when girls start hiking their dresses
along their thighs. ¶
"Some kids, they take it to another level, and it's just nasty," she
said, giggling. "It's like grinding with their clothes on." ¶
A short distance away, several couples on the dance floor seemed
determined to prove her point. ¶
A dark-haired girl in a sparkly tiara and a red satin dress swiveled
her backside slowly and suggestively against her dance partner, almost as if
she were imitating the "lap dances" of topless bar performers. ¶
As the pace of the music picked up, another couple started
freak-dancing nearby. The boy, minus his tuxedo jacket, fell gracefully
backward, placed one palm on the floor and danced that way for a few
seconds, all without losing time to the beat or contact with his partner's
behind. ¶
A few steps away, a girl in a blue satin dress was bent forward,
dancing with her palms on her thighs. The boy behind her gripped her across
the stomach with one hand. ¶
Hinson believes when kids dance that way, they are showing
disrespect for each other and themselves. He knows, however, that he's
slogging uphill in trying to convince students of that. ¶
Even so, as long as he's in charge, he will continue to stop any
freak-dancers he catches. ¶
He thinks he knows when they will finally see things his way: ¶
"When they have children." ¶
--- ¶