Tag Archives: dance team

Dance Team Suspended for Hazing at Florida A&M!

Regular readers of this site will remember the name Florida A&M: less than a year ago a member of the marching band died as a result of hazing incident on a bus and since then the program and school have been thrown into a firestorm of controversy . . . mostly because there had been a series of similar incidents over the years and the administration had done little, if anything, to combat the practice. The heat got so bad at the school that the university president resigned because of it in July.

So how do we start off the 2012 school year at FAMU? With another hazing incident, this time reportedly involving the school’s Torque Dance Team. Not a lot of details about what actually happened over Labor Day weekend, but it was enough for the school to investigate and suspended the entire squad. But really: how stupid do you have to be to continue hazing at a school where a kid DIED less than a year ago and lawsuits are flying around campus like drone aircraft?  (You can read the details of the stupid things that were done to Robert Champion here.) FAMU even put out new, stricter guidelines they thought would end hazing practices.

We hate to see schools over-react to hazing incidents, but in this case the death penalty might be the only thing to get student’s attention. End the program for five or six years (long enough that anyone who even remembers the school had a dance team are long gone) and start completely over with all new coaches, trainers, etc. And if there’s another hazing incident after that, then it’s gone forever.

I think even drunk college students would get the message at that point.

Source: CBS News

College Dance Team Apologizes For, But Also Defends, Use of Straitjackets in Performance

Robert Morris Dance Team in straitjacket costumesAnd they said we were crazy for posting this story! (Cue the hate emails from people with real mental illness or their family members.)

Usually we report on incidents with high school or college dance teams when their uniforms are too tight or their “lap dance” inspired routine offends some parents. This time though, we have a bunch of young women who thought it would be a good “artistic choice” to wear straitjackets and wear crazy-looking make-up for their routine at a national competition.

And yes, someone in the crowd had a child with some form of mental illness and she was offended. Nothing about the kid being in a straitjacket, just offended.

For their part, the ladies on the Robert Morris University Dance Team (pictured below after escaping the straigtjackets) did apologize for offending anyone, but also defended their choice for the routine. Bravo for them!

Now about that new routine making fun of the Tsunami & Earthquake in Japan last week . . .

Here’s more on the story from the Chicago Tribune:

The Robert Morris University dance team has apologized for any hurt feelings it might have caused by performing in simulated straitjackets, but defended the costume as a legitimate artistic choice. A photo of the team wearing the outfits — which included wild hair, dark eye makeup and chef coats made to look like straitjackets — disturbed local blogger Chrisa Hickey. Her teen son suffers from schizoaffective disorder, and she said the costumes appeared to make light of people with mental illness.

She complained to the university president, who called the costumes inappropriate and said the dance team’s outfits would be subject to administration approval from now on. The team issued a statement saying it was sorry for any offense caused, noting that many of its members have had to deal with issues of mental health in their own lives. But they added that the costume was meant as a metaphor for mental and physical struggle.

“Dance is a form of art and a great outlet of expression, and that is what we were doing as a team,” they said. “We exercised our creative license, and our creative outlet.”

Robert Morris dance team

HS Dance Team Benched for “Provocative Moves” During Routine

It’s that time of year again. In addition to football hazing reports and stories about the shortness of HS cheerleader’s skirts, we also usually have a story or two in September about high school dance teams whose moves are just a little more risque than the administration would like them to be. Most recent case in point is Central High School in Chattanooga where the principal pulled the school’s dance team before Friday nights performance during a home football game. At issue wasn’t necessarily the routine itself, but whether or not the girls had allowed Principal King to approve a routine last week and then went and added a few “improvements” during the actual show. Of course, some parents complained about those moves and now we have a classic “you just don’t understand how kids dance today” dispute.

So far, we haven’t been able to find video of this routine, so if you come across it somewhere, please let us know: badjocks at yahoo.com.  Here’s more on the story from local TV station WRCB (link includes video):

The principal of Central High School benched the dance team Friday after parents complained over provocative dance moves. Students and members in the group are upset over the last minute notice.

The principal, Finley King, says he approved the dance before the game, but it was a different story when the team performed. He says until they clean up their act, they will have to watch the game from the sidelines Friday night. “It brought tears to the whole team because we worked so hard,” says Kearia Colbert, dance team member.

Kearia Colbert says she was shocked when she learned her dance team could not perform at the Central High School football game Friday night “Family was coming to see us and to tell them we can’t perform, it was so bad. We did not want to hear that,” says Colbert. Friday morning Principal Finley King met with parents of the dance team after he received complaints and an email saying the dance moves performed at last Friday’s game were too provocative.

Colbert’s sister, didn’t see much harm in the dance moves. “I don’t think it is fair. If the cheerleaders can do it, why not the dancers,” says Autumn Baker.

Provocative dance benches Central High’s dance team (WRCB-TV)