Why ballroom classes should be taught at more high schools.

[[]V[]essenjah]

So for a long time, "freak dancing" otherwise known as "grinding" has been a very popular form of dance at high schools. Mind you, most high schools appear to be trying to fight this through various means by banning it, playing oldies, or other means.

I was thinking that as a college student who has taken Ballroom dancing such as Swing and Latin... why aren't these implemented more often? I would imagine that they would at least discourage it and allow for a better alternative.

A while back, I attended a Halloween bash that was 18+ with my wife and I tried a bit of dirty dancing (since it appeared to be the norm at this particular dance) and to be honest, even the basics of latin or swing felt a LOT more interesting than freak dancing/grinding and I felt like the dance lacked musicality or style. It was flat out boring, not to mention that I felt like it was degrading for my wife, not to mention any girl I have ever danced with in my life. To top it all off, the repetitive motion actually made us mostly feel miserable due to the constant awkward positioning and repetitive hip motion. It felt to me more like a chore than it was fun.

Mind you, I'm not suggesting that they teach competitive ballroom or necessarily ballroom in the traditional sense... but teach them something they can ACTUALLY use on the dance floor. Some examples would be bachata, west coast swing, salsa, cha-cha, rhumba, tango, etc, 2-step nightclub, slow jazz.... even hip-hop.

To be honest, I never understood why schools even hold dances, when many schools do not hold classes to teach any form of actual dance.

Anyone know of a school that has had success in implementing ballroom style courses at school to help reduce grinding?

[flip]

I've been thinking about I and my wife taking some dancing classes. Sounds like fun. I honestly feel that since the Fed takeover is all but complete now , we will see an effort to instill more class and dignity in the minds of our youth now. Ballroom dancing is a great way to do that I think, among others.

[callmeslick]

as one who spent his misspent youth in places like CBGBs, I fondly remember slam dancing. If you got out of some of those lower Manhattan clubs without something bleeding or broken, it was a mellow night.
As for ballroom dancing, each to their own. I agree with the OP that some of what is trendy today seems sort of classless and disrespectful of one's partner, but then again, the same was said of rock and roll dances in the 50's and earlier dance crazes in the 1920's. I'm quite sure my grandchildren will grow up to do some things that strike me as truly bizzare in another decade or so, but figure that's how life moves forward. I'd be less likely than Flip to suggest that dance styles are the way to instill 'dignity and class' in our young people. I think it comes down to more fundamental issues around how one views themselves, the world and their core values.

[roid]

I don't think i quite understand OP's premise.
Grind dancing should be discouraged in the general population, because OP doesn't personally enjoy grind dancing?

Is this another one of those "X should be banned because my religion doesn't like sexuality" threads?

[youtube]t1HQ6T2vCyw[/youtube]

[[]V[]essenjah]

Ok, in short this is for the sake of a persuasive argument.

However, I do see grinding/freak dancing an issue in most high schools. For example, as someone who will be a parent sometime in the near future, I really don't like the idea of my child getting involved in this sort of behaviour. Not to say that I am against dirty dancing completely but I do agree that teens should not be involved in it.

It does depend on your viewpoint though but many schools/parents see it as a big problem and are trying to in some cases ban this sort of dancing, or they ban/make policies against certain types of music being played.

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/wei ... 42334.html

This is a good source article I found on the subject of dirty dancing. I don't feel that it should be banned and I do feel that it is discrimination to simply ban certain types of music from being played at dances...

However, I feel that all students should be presented the option within their teen years to attend ballroom dance classes as an alternative. Mind you, there are a lot of forms of full contact dances that I think are fine because they are done tastefully. For example, bachata/slow jazz.

Ballroom has a way of teaching complete respect for each other by way of human touch. It also teaches team-work through lead/follow techniques better than any group class project ever will.

[flip]

Roid, maybe you should post a video of teens actually bumping and grinding, then form an opinion from the actual content and not some form of propaganda.

[Isaac]

Roid, maybe you should post a video of teens actually bumping and grinding, then form an opinion from the actual content and not some form of propaganda.

? I helping?

Teen getting bumped: http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mcn81 ... o1_500.gif

[flip]

ROFL!

[Sergeant Thorne]

"X should be banned because my religion doesn't like sexuality" threads?

"Doesn't like sexuality?" Let's raise the bar. It's public displays of emotionally-detached sexuality that is being discussed, not sexuality as an all-inclusive aspect of life the way you've misrepresented it here. It should be recognized in light of this gross generalization that there are multiple origins to reservations on the subject of sexuality. Prudishness on the subject stems, in my opinion, from whatever combination of ignorance and hypocrisy. However there are those (I'll include myself) who deal with the subject of sexuality (however adequately) from the basis of being aware of the consequences of sexuality in various situations relating to equity (fairness), dignity, honor, emotion, and human relations (peace, strife, ...). If you were fully aware of the effects, Roid, of the sort of sexuality that popular culture embraces, you might side with me in any discussion of the subject (that is unless you just wanted things a certain way so you could derive a degree of enjoyment, damn the consequences). Where do you draw the line, regarding sexuality? What is good? What is bad? Do you draw ANY lines that aren't demanded by popular opinion?

[Foil]

From my own perspective, schools should have classes in dancing of all kinds; not just ballroom, but latin, tap, swing, hip-hop, ballet, modern, jazz, etc.

It's not that kids aren't doing the "correct" kinds of dance, it's that they lack any dancing instruction at all, and generally end up just trying to imitate whatever attention-getting movements they've seen.

Note: It's not just kids, either. I've seen this with adults at various events as well. Most of them (I'll include myself here) don't know any real dance, so unless it's something scripted (e.g. Cupid Shuffle) it's just a muddle of random sort-of-dancing. ...That is, until a couple with some real dancing skills comes out to the dance floor, at which point people make room and just watch.

[flip]

Yeah I didn't mean to limit it to any style except outright humping each other in a vulgar manner. I couldn't even bring myself to post an example or even look for one to be honest.

[callmeslick]

From my own perspective, schools should have classes in dancing of all kinds; not just ballroom, but latin, tap, swing, hip-hop, ballet, modern, jazz, etc.

It's not that kids aren't doing the "correct" kinds of dance, it's that they lack any dancing instruction at all, and generally end up just trying to imitate whatever attention-getting movements they've seen.

Note: It's not just kids, either. I've seen this with adults at various events as well. Most of them (I'll include myself here) don't know any real dance, so unless it's something scripted (e.g. Cupid Shuffle) it's just a muddle of random sort-of-dancing. ...That is, until a couple with some real dancing skills comes out to the dance floor, at which point people make room and just watch.

speaking as one whose dance floor skills resemble a hippopotomus with arthritis, I'd agree. However, if we're focusing on what extra skills children need to be taught in schools, ALL of the arts should be presented. It has long been shown that arts knowledge expands intellectual capacity of those who absorb it. Good prep schools and a handful of elite public systems know this, and always have. Same can be said for language skills outside one's native tongue.

[roid]

Yeah i'd like to learn modern dance or ballet, as a form of expression, and for better kinectic awareness. Also for the ripped & lithe body
(so much more fun than lifting weights)