Dancing Away from Good Taste

I have a friend whose stepdaughter attends the Expressions Academy of Dance in the small suburb of Seminole in the Tampa Bay area. She has been disturbed for a while, because for two recitals in a row they have had the older girls do a dance routine out of the Broadway play "Chicago", which is hardly suitable material for young girls.

The last two times they had a recital, the girls dressed like sluts and danced very suggestively. The first year, the tableau was in a jail cell, where they danced to a number about the different ways they had murdered the men in their lives. They did this while performing a campy dance number which included spreading their legs apart a great deal. I actually attended that one, myself, and can attest to this from first-hand experience.

The second time, they sang about how expendable boys were, and that they were only to be used and thrown away. This was again accompanied by dress that would make a hooker blush. There were a couple additional routines that were just a boy short of a Paris Hilton sex tape.

Today my friend called me, quite angry, to tell me that she tried to talk to the owner. My friend (let's call her Samantha) is known to be very straightforward. That can sometimes be taken as rude, but anyone who is intelligent can tell the difference. Sam doesn't swear, she doesn't try to pick fights, but she does want answers and she digs for them. She holds a juris doctorate and she's no dummy.

Sam called Lara, the owner, to ask her if there was going to be another offensive number this year. She was blunt enough to even state that she found it offensive during the last two years. At this, Lara bridled and told her that she wasn't going to discuss any upcoming routines.

Sam persisted in trying to get an answer. As she told me later, if the material was offensive again, only her husband would go (to show support of his daughter). If the material wasn't offensive this year, the entire family could go. That includes Sam, her husband, their two sons, and her mother.

Lara told Sam that they repeatedly got rave reviews for those particular routines, and again stated to Sam that she wouldn't tell her the details and wouldn't tell her what was going to be on stage this year. Finally, as Sam persisted, Lara hung up on her.

Sam then called one of the main sponsors of the dance studio, in hopes of getting an answer. As she told me later, she figured that a sponsor was tacitly sanctioning the material and might be close enough to know what was on the programme. The sponsor started out a little friendlier, but ultimately refused to help Sam pursue the matter any further, telling her that if Lara refused to help Sam and her family, then she would too.

Upon a little investigation, I found out why the sponsor was so defensive of Lara. This 'sponsor' is actually an employee of Lara's.

Sam had called both anonymously, as she was afraid of getting her stepdaughter into any trouble. As Sam says, their family has classic morals and they're born-again Christians, and most people find such beliefs to be more offensive than a proctologist at a hemorrhoid convention. Sam now tells me that she is exceedingly glad she stayed anonymous.

But Sam is in a quandary: What should she do?

I told her that I think it's time for Sam's husband to talk to his ex-wife about the 'quality' of this dance studio, when there are so many dance studios they can choose from! But Sam's husband doesn't want to rock the boat.

So, I see no way out of the situation and I happen to agree with Sam. Why should she expose her entire family to such garbage?

As for the owners of the Expressions Academy of Dance, they should be ashamed of themselves. This is exactly the sort of thing that encourages child exploitation.

Has no one there heard of JonBenet Ramsey?