High school administrators are beginning to crack down on inappropriate dance moves at school-sponsored dances. Although common, “grinding” has never been as popular as it is today. Recently, the WPA (Women Pay All) dance brought the administration’s attention to the issue of inappropriate dancing. Several witnesses had reported excessive levels of grinding and gyrating, leading the administration to take steps to try to prevent recurring acts.

“There was a lot of vulgar dancing and it got to a level where it was very inappropriate,” science teacher Nicolas Deffer said.

Students are being told to kindly leave these “simulated sex” acts outside the school setting. Some teachers worry about the image that such dancing may project towards the public. Those who attend the dance, whether it be students, chaperones, or other people involved, are subject to witnessing the acts performed by students.

“The DJ told us that our students unfortunately took things to a level he had never seen before,” English teacher and STUCO sponsor Lindsey McFall said.

The last thing that the faculty and administration want is for Shawnee Mission South to gain a negative reputation among the community. Taking this in stride, the administration has set new standards as to how students should dance.

“We’re going to mention it at the assembly on March 29, and the bottom line is that if people’s dance moves reflect a sexual manner then they will be asked to leave,” Principal Joe Gilhaus said.

There will be no frilly-titled rules such as the ‘face to face and leave some space’ rule or the ‘45-degree’ rule. The message that the administration and faculty want to send appears to be clear, if students don’t want to dance appropriately, they can leave.

“What people do on their own time is up to them, but when they come to a school dance, there are certain behaviors that are acceptable. This isn’t Jersey Shore; Snooki isn’t a student here,” Gilhaus said.

Some of the dance moves that were exhibited caused an uproar within the faculty.

“There were girls in short dresses bending over and touching the floor,” McFall said.

The Time Warp dance, held March 31, will feature music dating as far back as the 1960’s, which may eliminate the need to express oneself in a provocatively sexual manner. If a student is seen dancing inappropriately, the administration’s response will be cut and dry.

“Our supervision at the dances will be as such: we’ll go up to students and if they cannot dance or act in an appropriate manner they’ll be asked to leave. If they want to argue, then the consequences will get greater,” Gilhaus said.

Having graduated in 2004, Deffer reflects on why he thinks the overall culture of a dance has changed so greatly.

“When I was in high school, the whole dance scene was different. I think that pop culture is a leading cause of these outbreaks of inappropriate dancing,” Deffer said.

Future dances under this ‘new era’ will undoubtedly be different from those of years past.

Whether or not the student body will play audience to one of Gilhaus’s spring

hormone speeches remains to be seen. If a speech were to be delivered, it is presumable that the contents will in some way, shape or form relate to the matter of inappropriate dancing. Nonetheless, spring just isn’t spring without the speech.

“There’s a lot of pressure on those speeches! I will do my best to find some time to put one together,” Gilhaus said.

With Time Warp comes a blast to the past, but Gilhaus’s message to the student body is straight out of the ’90s.

“I’m not trying to make a mountain out of a molehill and I’m not trying to shoot a fly with a shotgun. I’m just trying to say: come up, have fun, be young, drink Pepsi, and dance appropriately,” Gilhaus said.

by: Derek Fuhrmann