Why do parents allow this????

[shinyhappypeople]

Girls' Sexy Dance Called Inappropriate

 

I just.don't.understand. What were their parents thinking? What excuse could those parents possibly offer?

 

OMG. This is just so sad. Poor girls. :( They deserve way better than what their parents and dance teacher gave them.

[Starr]

Anything for fame. Really sad!

[Ellie]

O.M.G.:blink::eek::ack2:

 

I am horrified beyond words.

 

Those little girls are VERY good, but oh my. The first time *I* saw something like that in my dd's dance class, I'd have been in the teacher's face, and if she wouldn't back down, we'd have been outta there.

[GoVanGogh]

We live in an extremely conservative state.

My son took dance lessons for several years. At his last recital, there was another class - young 4-5 year old girls - that danced to "You look beautiful tonight." Their dance costumes were long, flowing red dresses w/little spaghetti straps. Honestly, they had more of their body covered than any of the other costumes. But - the combination of that dress (that looked more like a nightie...) and that song was just --- awful! The entire audience was squirming in their seats. The instructor was young (25 range) and the students all received their costumes the week before recital. I don't know if it was an 'honest mistake' and she didn't realize how bad it would look? But the studio received MANY complaints!

 

But - that video you linked?! :001_huh: I'm speechless! That is so terrible. And - as Dr. Phil said - where do these girls go from here?!

[Lovedtodeath]

I think the costumes vastly added to the inappropriateness.

[Only me]

That is a big reason why my daughters quit dance. My girls had a wonderful dance director one of the instructors took over. At that studio things were still pretty tame but then that teacher quit. My daughters were forced to pick between a new teacher and follow the instructor to her new studio. The new teacher brought over girls from her old studio and those were her favorites. She basically snubbed all the other girls.

 

So my daughters chose to follow their instructor to the new studio. They quit after a month when they realized what kinds of outfits they would wear and dances they would have to be performing. My oldest had been dancing since she was 3 and was doing very well on pointe. She was 14 at the time. This same studio had outfits and dances very much like the video. My oldest dd is very fashionable and in no way a prude but these outfits were showing way too much skin and the dances were very inappropriate.

[Susan in TN]

When my oldest dd turned 5yo, I signed her up for a nearby dance class - at a studio that had been there for at least 20 years. I had spoken with the director/instructor and she sounded very conservative, and specifically mentioned that she always kept the girls "well-covered" and used age appropriate music.

 

So, the class (which was packed to the gills) consisted of: tumbling (:confused:), 5 minutes of very basic ballet moves, loud, loud, hip-hop music, and learning to "girly walk" and "pose" (ala strip club runway). Needless to say we didn't look back.

[BikeBookBread]

:crying:

 

Wow. This makes me VERY sad. What about those parents? Echoing Dr. Phil, didn't ANY of them comment negatively during rehearsals? What were they thinking!

[Excelsior! Academy]

:blink: I. am. speechless.

[abbeyej]

I think the excuse would be, "It's all in fun. They're just cute. It's not meant to be sexual." ... It's really all about the "cute".

 

To them, perhaps it's no different than my thinking it was "cute" to let my then 2yo son wear khakis and a button-up shirt on occasion so he was "dressed like daddy".

 

But I'm with you completely. It's appalling.

 

And the screams and shouts from the audience? Perhaps more disturbing than anything else.

 

... It sure makes me grateful (again) for my own kids' experiences with classical ballet instead...

[elizabeth]

I am absolutely aghast. The dance teacher should have her head examined. That was obscene in terms of the costume , song etc the sexualization of young girls in this fashion has been going on for about 1o years. Pleather miniskirts, leopard print fake corsets over tshirts etc Neil Postman wrote a great book about this phenomenon that addressed this blurring of adult and child worlds. I find the Twilight phenomenon to be similar. Here is a link to Postmans book The Disappearance of Childhood for those who are interested in his thought s regarding the blurring of roles between adult and child. http://books.google.com/books?id=wLOk8-BfZV0C&dq=The+disappearance+of+childhood&source=bl&ots=3Qx_b3r3SS&sig=GtW3UqKCUVseXX-wqIja8darghI&hl=en&ei=SojtS-y7NYL7lwfj0P20CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAw

[abbeyej]

...the sexualization of young girls in this fashion has been going on for about 1o years...

 

I'd argue it's far longer than that.

[HRAAB]

Disgusting. Sickening. Appalling. Those parents and teacher need their heads examined. Do I dare call it child abuse?

[elizabeth]

Absolutely it is child abuse and exploitation. It shows a level of ignorance and poor judgment that boggles the mind.

[Mejane]

I'm pretty open-minded, but that just makes me ill. They look like exotic dancers at some sleazy club. No way would my daughter have participated.

[shinyhappypeople]

I saw the whole thing on youtube and there's one spot at :18 where a girl has a hand on each side of her chest pushing out nonexistent breasts and it just made my stomach turn. Imagine the uproar if a school principal or teacher were found with that image (a still shot of :18) on his PC. People would call him (rightly, IMO) a giant perv.

 

Putting kids in sexual situations (even if they don't fully understand what's happening) is harmful and always inappropriate. And, yeah, I'd even call it sexually abusive. If the "friendly" neighbor down the street started taking pictures of these girls in skimpy outfits and sexy poses, it wouldn't be acceptable. Why is it okay for mom and dad to do it?

[Lostinabook]

There's an interview with one set of parents defending the dance on Good Morning America's homepage: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/ (The actual interview part starts about halfway through.) Their reasoning sounds very much like the reasoning of people who have their little girls in "beauty" pageants.

[Aunty Social]

nm.

Edited May 14, 2010 by Aunty Social

[5knights3maidens]

Absolutely disgusting.

[Orthodox6]

It would be very tempting to commandeer the dance instructor's personal computer. I would not be surprised to find porn photos.

[Lovedtodeath]

 

And the screams and shouts from the audience? Perhaps more disturbing than anything else.

I couldn't hear this or the song. I don't have sound on my computer. I am glad I didn't if it made it worse.

[jewellsmommy]

I feel very bad for those little girls. I hope this was a one time thing for them and not the start of a progression as was suggested in the news take.

 

Unfortunately the movies and shows put out don't help. That was the same song used in the 2nd chipmunk movie and I would guess that, perhaps, was the influence that led to this idea. I don't know, maybe not. However, I will say, I think the girl chipmunks were dressed a little better then those girls!

The previews of that movie showed some very provocative looking dance moves.

 

I think the parents get so wrapped up in the competitive aspect that they get tunnel vision and are only looking for the big score. They think about what will be the edgiest, what will capture the attention of the judges etc. It is tragically sad. I have seen a parent that was so into the beauty competitions that she spent more on 1 outfit then we do on groceries for a month and these people made way less money then we did. Her explanation was that her dd just wanted to win so badly. The girl was 4!

 

 

 

 

Edited to correct my bad spelling!

[Aunty Social]

nm.

Edited May 14, 2010 by Aunty Social

[unsinkable]

Hmmm...the last time I chimed in on the inappropriateness of girl dancers shakin like that I was called a pervert and the poster's DH came on and threatened me...

 

:auto:

[littlebug42]

It disgusts me but it does not really surprise me. My children started dancing at a dance school where at the recital, my dh stated that all the older girls needed was a stripper pole and their dances would be complete. The teen girls danced to the song "Addicted" by Kelly Clarkson where the lyrics were unbelievably inappropriate. That was it for us at that school. I found a new dance studio that is so much better. The recital was last weekend and there was nothing inappropriate at all.

[Perry]

Both my girls do competition dance and we see dances like this (from other studios, not ours) all the time. It is appalling. The first time we were exposed to something like this, several of the dance moms and I went to the studio director and thanked her for her good judgment in selecting costumes and choreography.

 

Unfortunately, the judges seem to like it, because those sort of dances always win. The past two years, several of the competition companies have started giving out special awards to studios whose costumes are "age-appropriate and tasteful", (several of which our studio have won) so I think there may be some efforts to tone it down.

 

The worst is when I have to bring my 12 year old son to a competition. He spends a good bit of the time with his head inside his sweatshirt, saying "this is inappropriate, tell me when it's over."

[3peasinapod]

I almost got tears in my eyes thinking about our 7yo dancing around like that. They don't even understand, and like Dr. Phil said, who is watching these little girls on YouTube? After watching Madagascar, my 3yo has been, as she says "shaking her booty," and at first it was funny, but now I don't like it anymore. We shouldn't have laughed when she did it. It was funny when a 1yo did it, and now we're trying to discourage her from doing it. :001_huh:

[rookie]

That's awful. There's no honest mistake about it. It's pole-dancing from start to finish. The parents, instructors, judges, and audience should be shot! (I am only exagerting a bit about the being shot). :glare:

[Kathleen in VA]

because those sort of dances always win.

 

That's the answer to "What were the parents thinking?" Ugh.

[jewellsmommy]

Just one note - for those complaining about short costumes in other classes - quite often it's a (imo) safety issue. Dancers need room to move or else they are likely to get tripped up and injure themselves. That's also why they wear leotards to class. Usually under those costumes will be a leotard - sometimes skin colored, but coverage as best they can without courting injury. That's one good thing about hip hop - baggy pants and t shirts allow enough freedom of movement, and also provide coverage.

 

Also, think about classical ballet - a leotard and tutu don't exactly provide a lot of coverage.

 

Of course, sometimes it's just stupidity.:glare:

 

 

I definitely see that point. I think the difference might be the concept behind the outfit. This outfit, even if the midriff was not bare and included a skin colored covering, it intentionally gave the impression of a bare midriff. That was done on purpose. It didn't need to be. There was no physical benefit, movement etc, added by virtue of flesh colored fabric vs. not. The difference is the visual impression!

[PiCO]

There's an interview with one set of parents defending the dance on Good Morning America's homepage: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/ (The actual interview part starts about halfway through.) Their reasoning sounds very much like the reasoning of people who have their little girls in "beauty" pageants.

 

Those parents are so far in denial it's rediculous. My dd danced for a while at a place that participated in competitions, but they did not have their young students compete because what you saw in the video unfortunately is the norm at a lot of competitions, evidently. The school director told me at one competition there was a group of young kids dancing in "sexy" nurses outfits.

 

Fortunately for people who do like more modern dance styles and like to compete, there are many different dance competition companies out there, and some of them actually have standards and do give out lower scores for inappropriate costuming and movement.

 

Back to the parents being in denial- they were very adamant that this video was taken "out of context". The dad gave an example - "When you go to the swimming pool, you wear a swimsuit. When you go to a dance competition, you wear this type of outfit." I would respond that there are swim suits that are inappropriate for young girls, and there are costumes that are not appropriate also. Different costume choices can be made, and talented dancers can showcase their art in a manner that is not offensive.

 

(And I think I'm a very liberal parent compared to most on this board.)

[Lostinabook]

Back to the parents being in denial- they were very adamant that this video was taken "out of context". The dad gave an example - "When you go to the swimming pool, you wear a swimsuit. When you go to a dance competition, you wear this type of outfit." I would respond that there are swim suits that are inappropriate for young girls, and there are costumes that are not appropriate also. Different costume choices can be made, and talented dancers can showcase their art in a manner that is not offensive.

 

Yep. My other thought re: the swimsuits was that my dd doesn't go to the pool & bump & grind while adults cheer her on.

[Perry]

Wanted to mention something else--

Videotaping is not allowed at dance competitions, because choreography is protected. You can purchase DVDs professionally made, but you're not supposed to put them on Youtube.

 

Whoever posted this was surely doing it illegally, but I have to say I'm really glad to see it getting national attention. It's totally out of control.

[Tracey in TX]

For every common sense parent who pulls their daughter out of a group of provocative dancers, there are a dozen parents waiting to get into the winning-est group.

 

One of my daughters does competitive cheer. The little girls (under 15-ish) use music which I would readily listen to, not "sexing" up the girls in order to win at all costs. I've seen some itty bitty girls (7 and under) from other clubs dance/cheer to very suggestive tunes and pat each other's bottoms in a not-so-innocent fashion.

[Mejane]

The video is not only illegal if copyrighted, it's also fodder for You-tube cruising pedophiles. I shudder to think who might be viewing it. Wonder how the parents would feel about that.

Edited May 14, 2010 by Mejane

[babysparkler]

:sad: *shaking my head*

[kmacnchs]

The parents were right that this is "normal" -- does it make it right?!?!

[Kathleen in VA]

The parents were right that this is "normal" -- does it make it right?!?!

 

Precisely. Normal is exactly what I'm trying to avoid. The mom said that unless you isolate yourself and your children from pop culture this is the stuff your daughters will be singing along with. Exactly why I isolate myself and children from pop culture. :tongue_smilie:

[jg_puppy]

Both my girls do competition dance and we see dances like this (from other studios, not ours) all the time. It is appalling. The first time we were exposed to something like this, several of the dance moms and I went to the studio director and thanked her for her good judgment in selecting costumes and choreography.

 

Unfortunately, the judges seem to like it, because those sort of dances always win. The past two years, several of the competition companies have started giving out special awards to studios whose costumes are "age-appropriate and tasteful", (several of which our studio have won) so I think there may be some efforts to tone it down.

 

:iagree: My dd is a dancer and I see dances and costumes like this at all of the competitions. I am very thankful that the studio where my dd dances doesn't do anything like this.

 

Jan

[CatMomof3]

My oldest so wants to take dance, but everywhere that I have look (where we can afford) has been disgusting.

What is the point of a 7 year old to dance like that?

[2cents]

So sad for those children! They probably worked really hard on the routine and because an adult in charge wasn't thinking clearly about the impression the moves and costume would generate, the children will suffer. They look talented and that routine was IMO a horrible way to showcase their dancing talent. Now there is a viral YouTube that has all their pictures all over the net. Just horrible. :sad:

[littleWMN]

That brought tears to my eyes. :( Sad and sick. :confused:

[happyhomemaker25]

I am so incredibly thankful that our Preacher's wife teaches dance at a Christian school. She also teaches for our church. The girls have these beautiful long flowing outfits with sleeves and very appropriate necklines. They don't look frumpy either. Just lovely.

They use their dancing as a form of worship and it is amazing!

[TN Mama]

Uh... no. How sad that the parents obviously thought this was okay for their daughters to participate in.

[TravelingChris]

I am also very thankful that my girls limited dancing was always appropriate. My girls have been in dance and are in swim and dive now. There is simply no comparison between what they did and do and that dancing. But I am not surprised. My older dd is just totally appalled by what Miley Cyrus is doing and I think it is partially because they are close in age. SHe is just so upset about what a bad example she is putting out there. I was saying that maybe the parents are turning the tv off but I think she is right. The older teens who know they are rolemodels for young girls are being completely raunchy and inappropriate and the young girls model this. And then add what Perry has said that this kind of performance wins the prizes, and then youtube and you have a perfect storm of inappropriateness and lure for pedophiliacs. It is disgusting and heartbreaking. Yes, all of us protect our daughters from this kind of behavior just like we are parents who are very concerned with the education our children receive. But all around us the society crumbles. 40% of children are now being born to single mothers and the statistics bear out that poverty among that group is rampant. Unfortuantely, just a very bleak societal picture., even though there are bright spots around too.

[mycalling]

 

Yep. My other thought re: the swimsuits was that my dd doesn't go to the pool & bump & grind while adults cheer her on.

:iagree:

[Lovedtodeath]

 

But all around us the society crumbles. 40% of children are now being born to single mothers and the statistics bear out that poverty among that group is rampant. Unfortuantely, just a very bleak societal picture., even though there are bright spots around too.

Hmmm... I am not sure what poverty has to do with moral breakdown. Miley Cyrus certainly isn't living in poverty and neither were the girls paying for that dance class and those costumes.

[justamouse]

Jaw Drop.

[ThatCyndiGirl]

I felt like a pedophile just watching the video.

 

Re: the father saying that the video was taken out of context: no.

 

I wouldn't be comfortable with ANYBODY seeing my kid dressed like a prosti-tot NOR gyrating.....on stage or anywhere else. :glare:

[TandLMommy28]

I had heard about it but finally watched... it was so much worse than I expected!

 

I am really starting to think shelling out the extra cash for the classical ballet company is going to be worth the money. Yikes...