LOL this is hilarious!
Montgomery High bans sexually explicit freak dancing
SR school requires random breath test to fight alcohol at dances
By MARTIN ESPINOZA
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Montgomery High School, moving to ban sexually explicit dancing known as freaking, is the first Santa Rosa high school to impose written rules that prohibit drinking and limit dance behavior.
Students and parents must sign a form promising to abide by the new guidelines before students are allowed to attend next weekend's school dance. It marks the first time in recent memory that a specific style of dancing has been banned in the Santa Rosa district.
The form also reiterates the school's ban on alcohol use and goes a step further by requiring students to agree to random "breath analysis" before being allowed into a dance.
"We don't want kids coming in under the influence of alcohol," said Montgomery Principal Bill Stirnus. "We don't want kids to be bringing alcohol into the dance. We want the dancing to be of a more acceptable level ... We want all kids to feel safe and kids don't feel safe when they get a sense that things are out of control."
Two weeks ago, the issue came before a school board committee, which sought more information about how it would be implemented. District officials left the final decision to Stirnus.
The first test of the new rules comes next weekend during Turnabout, a traditional winter event where girls ask boys to the dance.
Those who buy the $16 to $24 tickets for singles or couples must agree to the following under Montgomery's rules:
"Dancing styles that involve intimate touching of the breasts, buttocks or genitals or that simulate sexual activity are not allowed; when dancing back to front, all dancers must remain upright - no sexual squatting or sexual bending is allowed, i.e. no hands on knees and no hands on the dance floor with your buttocks facing or touching your dance partner."
While most students sympathize with efforts to curb the abuse of alcohol at school dances, many say the dancing restrictions are too extreme.
"I was planning on going, but when I found out about the rules, I thought that they were stupid and I decided not to go," said Andrea Villalobos, a Montgomery sophomore.
"You can't touch a partner, you can't touch your knees without having the adults think you're doing something wrong."
Freshman Alex Laforce said he and his dance partner decided not to go because of the restrictions. Laforce said he has freak danced before and it never led to the "sexual promiscuity or sexual behavior" adults are afraid of.
The new rules were put into place after an incident at a dance last fall involving drunken students and what Stirnus described as "behavior that went beyond the bounds of propriety."
The ban was a hot topic this week at Montgomery, where some students displayed another popular dance called the Thizzle, a term coined by Bay Area rapper Mac Dre. Thizzle is slang for the experience of being on the drug Ecstasy, and the dance mimics that experience.
"I think (school officials) forgot what it was like to be our age," said Cristany Renati, a freshman. "They're not going to be able to stop the dancing. The music that's out there, that we dance to, how else do you dance to it? They're giving you instructions in the lyrics ... It's a song of instructions ... You can avoid it by not dancing."
Samantha Surlow, a freshman, said, "It's just like almost every generation: The parents don't like how the kids dance."
Julie Malnig, a cultural historian of dance performance and theater who teaches at the Gallatin School at New York University, said while such dances as freaking are new, the uproar is not.
"The pope banned the Tango in 1915," said Malnig, adding that every generation introduces a dance that tests the waters of what is appropriate.
"We shouldn't forget when the twist became popular, and you couldn't televise Elvis Presley from the waist down," she said.
She acknowledged that freaking is far more erotic and sexually explicit than dances from previous generations. Both students and teachers Friday described freaking as "dry sex."
Stirnus, who used to do the Twist and the Stroll, said his parents never complained about those dances because there was no touching involved.
"As a father, to think that some guy is groping my daughter, that's an issue for me," Stirnus said.
Silvia Martinez, whose 15-year-old daughter Maria is a freshman, said she is pleased with both the restrictions on alcohol and explicit dancing.
"That kind of dance at school is not appropriate. If people want to do that at home, that's another thing," she said.
Grant Gibbs, an English teacher at Montgomery, said he and other faculty avoid chaperone duties at student dances because "it's embarrassing and uncomfortable to watch."
Gibbs, who will be administering the breath analysis tests at Turnabout, said that at a dance early last fall he was shocked to see a line of girls "freaking with each other."
Montgomery Senior Class President James Brass said many students are likely to be discouraged by the release forms required to get into the dance.
"My feeling is that the students who don't want to go through this entire process are the students that show up drunk anyway," he said. "All we're asking of the students is that they don't touch any intimate areas."
Montgomery High bans sexually explicit freak dancing
SR school requires random breath test to fight alcohol at dances
By MARTIN ESPINOZA
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Montgomery High School, moving to ban sexually explicit dancing known as freaking, is the first Santa Rosa high school to impose written rules that prohibit drinking and limit dance behavior.
Students and parents must sign a form promising to abide by the new guidelines before students are allowed to attend next weekend's school dance. It marks the first time in recent memory that a specific style of dancing has been banned in the Santa Rosa district.
The form also reiterates the school's ban on alcohol use and goes a step further by requiring students to agree to random "breath analysis" before being allowed into a dance.
"We don't want kids coming in under the influence of alcohol," said Montgomery Principal Bill Stirnus. "We don't want kids to be bringing alcohol into the dance. We want the dancing to be of a more acceptable level ... We want all kids to feel safe and kids don't feel safe when they get a sense that things are out of control."
Two weeks ago, the issue came before a school board committee, which sought more information about how it would be implemented. District officials left the final decision to Stirnus.
The first test of the new rules comes next weekend during Turnabout, a traditional winter event where girls ask boys to the dance.
Those who buy the $16 to $24 tickets for singles or couples must agree to the following under Montgomery's rules:
"Dancing styles that involve intimate touching of the breasts, buttocks or genitals or that simulate sexual activity are not allowed; when dancing back to front, all dancers must remain upright - no sexual squatting or sexual bending is allowed, i.e. no hands on knees and no hands on the dance floor with your buttocks facing or touching your dance partner."
While most students sympathize with efforts to curb the abuse of alcohol at school dances, many say the dancing restrictions are too extreme.
"I was planning on going, but when I found out about the rules, I thought that they were stupid and I decided not to go," said Andrea Villalobos, a Montgomery sophomore.
"You can't touch a partner, you can't touch your knees without having the adults think you're doing something wrong."
Freshman Alex Laforce said he and his dance partner decided not to go because of the restrictions. Laforce said he has freak danced before and it never led to the "sexual promiscuity or sexual behavior" adults are afraid of.
The new rules were put into place after an incident at a dance last fall involving drunken students and what Stirnus described as "behavior that went beyond the bounds of propriety."
The ban was a hot topic this week at Montgomery, where some students displayed another popular dance called the Thizzle, a term coined by Bay Area rapper Mac Dre. Thizzle is slang for the experience of being on the drug Ecstasy, and the dance mimics that experience.
"I think (school officials) forgot what it was like to be our age," said Cristany Renati, a freshman. "They're not going to be able to stop the dancing. The music that's out there, that we dance to, how else do you dance to it? They're giving you instructions in the lyrics ... It's a song of instructions ... You can avoid it by not dancing."
Samantha Surlow, a freshman, said, "It's just like almost every generation: The parents don't like how the kids dance."
Julie Malnig, a cultural historian of dance performance and theater who teaches at the Gallatin School at New York University, said while such dances as freaking are new, the uproar is not.
"The pope banned the Tango in 1915," said Malnig, adding that every generation introduces a dance that tests the waters of what is appropriate.
"We shouldn't forget when the twist became popular, and you couldn't televise Elvis Presley from the waist down," she said.
She acknowledged that freaking is far more erotic and sexually explicit than dances from previous generations. Both students and teachers Friday described freaking as "dry sex."
Stirnus, who used to do the Twist and the Stroll, said his parents never complained about those dances because there was no touching involved.
"As a father, to think that some guy is groping my daughter, that's an issue for me," Stirnus said.
Silvia Martinez, whose 15-year-old daughter Maria is a freshman, said she is pleased with both the restrictions on alcohol and explicit dancing.
"That kind of dance at school is not appropriate. If people want to do that at home, that's another thing," she said.
Grant Gibbs, an English teacher at Montgomery, said he and other faculty avoid chaperone duties at student dances because "it's embarrassing and uncomfortable to watch."
Gibbs, who will be administering the breath analysis tests at Turnabout, said that at a dance early last fall he was shocked to see a line of girls "freaking with each other."
Montgomery Senior Class President James Brass said many students are likely to be discouraged by the release forms required to get into the dance.
"My feeling is that the students who don't want to go through this entire process are the students that show up drunk anyway," he said. "All we're asking of the students is that they don't touch any intimate areas."
