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| Put on your dancing shoes. Image courtesy of Mei Teng Wong, rgbstock.com |
Well, not really. Far from it, actually. I couldn't keep a beat to save my life. In fact I still can't.
But my lack of dancing ability didn't stop me from going to all the junior high dances. Dad, my reluctant chauffeur, would drop me off at the glamorous dance hall (really the slightly malodorous elementary school gym), and I would flail around to the music with the best of them. I didn't know what I was doing, but I always had fun.
I have so many great memories of those dances. Here's a short piece I wrote about one of them:
Junior high dances: kids packed into the elementary school gym, DJ blasting music, disgruntled teachers stuck with chaperoning duty wandering around, pushing couples out of dark corners and eyeing the dance floor. I was there that night with Matt, the "love" of my seventh-grade life, and the gym was hot and the pop was warm and the DJ played "Mony Mony," some of the kids chanting the non-PG audience participation parts until Mr. S, that squat, toadish English teacher, pulled the plug on the song (and nearly the dance) and then glared at us from his post by the door.
Ah, memories!
Nowadays, I'm not much of a dancer. I'm too self-conscious of my lack of ability and usually avoid the dance floor at all costs, even though my poor husband just loves to get out there. I sometimes wish that I could go back to those junior high days when I was either clueless about my lack of skill or just didn't care that I couldn't feel the rhythm. Luckily for me, though, it seems that my daughter, little ballerina that she is, intends to keep my dancing dreams alive.
Finally, just because I can't resist, here's Abba with "Dancing Queen":
Lyrics here.
Did you attend your junior high or high school dances? What memories stand out?
I was home-schooled, so there wasn't much oppurtunity for attending dances until I was in my later teens and friends started having dance parties. I always went and had a good time, but I can't dance well to save my life! The whole time during my dance w/ my dad at my wedding he was telling me which foot to move,etc, and not to fall down. People could tell he was talking to me and everyone thought he was giving me marriage advice or sharing special memories. No, he was just trying to keep us from ending up in a heap on the floor. :-)
ReplyDeleteAw, what a sweet memory!
DeleteI can relate to the dance with your dad. Before my wedding, I begged my dad to just let me walk on his feet like I did when I was a kid. No dice! LOL
I went to a private school up until high school so we didn't have junior high dances, went to a few in high school. Was always self conscious with dancing in front of others; didn't have rhythm LOL (still don't). But I do remember son going to a few junior high dances and you described them so well from what he would say about them when I asked him if he had a good time or not :)
ReplyDeletehave a good day!
betty
:)
DeleteSometimes I think I should take lessons, but I don't even think they could help me. LOL
Have a great day!
I always loved going to school discos (damn, that makes me sound old!) because I loved to dance, and I was ... okay at it lol. I guess I still am, but I'm more self-conscious now!
ReplyDeleteI want to know what the non-PG audience participation parts of Mony Mony are! :p
Check out the link I gave. ;)
DeleteYou can find them about halfway down the page under "Billy Idol version." They're not the same ones kids in my high school said, but they're close. Looking at them again now, I think I'd rate them R.
WoW that some Deja Vu right there. It has been forever since I heard that song. :) My hubby hates dancing in front of people. He amazed me at my son's wedding when he asked me for a dance. Loved the posting, and hearing the song. :)
ReplyDeleteAw, that must have been sweet. :)
DeleteHope the song doesn't turn into an earworm for you now. ;)
Love this! I loved the Jr. High and High School Stomps. I must have had rhythm because I was a cheerleader, but I still wasn't great. I didn't really care though. I figured if I did it to be funny then it was okay if I looked stupid! LOL. I still love dancing though. Even if I look like an idiot, which I'm quite certain I do now. It's just fun!
ReplyDeleteI need to adopt your attitude! I'm willing to bet that most of the people I think are watching me really aren't. :)
Deletehonestly, i don't think i ever went to any school dances---but as i got older, i loved to dance in dance clubs, which were big then---you should go and take ballroom classes!
ReplyDeleteLOL I'm afraid I'm pretty much hopeless when it comes to dancing. :)
DeleteI never went to any of my school dances, but I made up for it by dancing a lot in college! I remember the big scandal about the "Mony Mony" song. It was banned from my school. I have a secret fondness for ABBA. Shhhh!
ReplyDeleteI'll keep quiet if you keep quiet. I'm fond of them myself. Shh!
DeleteI think "Mony Mony" ended up being banned at our school, too.
I went to a few dances in junior high, mainly because my friends were all going to be there. I don't remember much about them except that they were held in the school gym.
ReplyDeleteAh, yes. The lovely school gym. I don't know about yours, but ours always smelled faintly of wet gym socks and old pizza. ;)
DeleteI was part of the activity committee in 7th grade, so I got into dances for free. When I left activity committee in 8th grade, I think the next school dance I went to was prom. I was always aware of my inability to dance, so I never quite enjoyed dances like you, but I wish I had.
ReplyDeleteI was just determined to have fun, no matter what!
DeleteI loved dancing in high school. I went to all the dances. I don't have any specific memories of those dances, but I'll tell you about a cool dance club in Mexico I went to. It was this hole in the wall with a disco ball, but it totally rocked. It was so cool to dance the Macarena with the Mexicans!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds awesome!
DeleteI always loved that song by Abba
ReplyDeleteI do too. :)
DeleteAll my life I've been taught to not let my body jiggle or shake in any way lol... I would be hopeless on the dance floor! I did do years of classical dance though - but it's very structured and controlled. I bet dancing the way you describe is a lot of fun :)
ReplyDeleteIt is, but I would never do it again. I'm too embarrassed now. LOL
DeleteI'm old enough that we had sock hops in junior high. Yes, I went and danced the pony, the twist, the mashed potato, and all the other dances we had to instantly learn as soon as a new song came out. It was great fun!!
ReplyDeleteThen as a teenager we had a lot of house parties (clean and innocent) where we danced to the Beatles, Peter Paul and Mary, Beach Boys, Lovin' Spoonful, Simon and Garfunkel and the like. But I also went to a few unsupervised parties where we listened to the "underground" music...the acid rock which I adored! Zepplin, Hendrix, Doors, Janice, Vanilla Fudge...long list of groups and songs they wouldn't play on the radio. It was truly awesome!! :):)
Sounds fun! I also love the underground music. In fact, I think I need to listen to some of it today. :)
DeleteI loved the school dances Dana we once had a fund raiser dance marathon danced the entire night it was such fun. I still love going out dancing with my husband but we only go out about once a year. You should not be self concious when I go out nobody can dance but that does not stop them. It is about having fun not putting on a show for anybody.
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right. I know that I think people are watching when they really aren't. Still, it's hard to let go of that mind-set.
DeleteYour school dances sound fun!
I've always loved dancing and I did attend some of the dances but always with my girl friends, never with a boy. Stand back...Fat Girl Dancing!
ReplyDeleteI had the opposite problem: I looked like a stick and was so self-conscious about my scrawny legs. Ah, the joys of growing up!
Delete