Blazers can dance if they want to - just not freak dance

"We can dance if we want to, we can leave your friends behind, 'cause your friends don't dance and if they don't dance, well, they're no friends of mine," starts the famous song The Safety Dance from 1983 by Men Without Hats. Twenty-one years later at Blair, the student body can still dance if they want to but only according to the school's ban on freak dancing.

According to the freak-dancing policy developed by a group of administrators shortly before the 2003 Valentine's Day dance, freak dancing of any sort is not allowed at school-sponsored dances. In the policy, freak dancing is not defined, leaving judgment up to chaperones at the dances, according to the article School bans freak dancing. The Valentine's Day dance was later cancelled due to lack of interest. Since then, no changes have been made to the policy.

Last year, there were only three dances - homecoming, prom and the BNC Shakedown. The Shakedown was officially sponsored by BNC and not the SGA, like homecoming and prom are.

Assistant Principal Linda Wanner, who was involved with the creation of the ban, feels that the policy has been fairly effective. "At homecoming, as we noticed anything inappropriate that was happening, we said something and it stopped for the most part," she explains. Regardless of whether or not the ban has been totally effective, Wanner feels that there should be a ban, and she gives away no indication of it being repealed any time soon.

However, many students have noticed little difference between dances before and after the ban. Senior Hannah Corcoran went to homecoming her freshmen and junior years and says there was no apparent difference between the amount of freak dancing before and after the ban. However, there was a marked difference in the number of attendees at the dance, she says. "I noticed that there were a lot less people," Corcoran states. She says administrators did not quickly stop freak dancing when it occurred. "They didn't really try to stop it," she states. Seniors Michelle Augustin and Christina Do also agree with Corcoran.

Juniors Jennifer Molina and Vanessa Bustos don't attend Blair dances, largely because of the ban. "We don't go because they're pressed about what you wear and how you dance," they say, finishing each other's sentence. "It's not only us, but a lot of people," Molina adds.

Seniors Aynalem Geremew and Chichi Otigbuo also use the same word "pressed" to describe the Administration's behavior. In contrast to Corcoran, Augustin and Do, Geremew and Otigbuo say that there was a lot less freak dancing after the ban and also note a big change in the music. Geremew states that dances are a lot less fun now. "Homecoming used to be a definite yes; now, it's just a maybe," she says.

The lack of attendance is not just imagined by the students. According to the article Freak dancing ban costs Blair, from September of last year on Silver Chips Online, the ban caused Blair organizations to lose nearly $4,200 as a result of lower attendance at dances and the cancelled Valentine's Day dance the prior year.

SGA Executive President Sebastian Johnson stresses that the SGA does not condone or endorse breaking school rules by disobeying the ban. However, the SGA's newly drafted official policy states that the SGA opposes the ban for the students at Blair. After several clauses stating that the SGA does not advocate breaking school rules and does advocate students respecting each other, the policy states the SGA's official opposition to the ban. "SGA supports the opposition to the ban on freak dancing within the majority of the student body and will continue to represent this position to the administration," the policy reads.

Johnson states that the SGA does not take issue with the enforcement of the ban but instead that it exists at all. "The effectiveness [of the ban] isn't a point for us. The student body adamantly opposed the ban, as does the SGA, because we are the student's representatives," Johnson states.