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Started going when I was 13. By the time I was 14, it was the best way to meet girls, so I invited my non-Mormon buds to go with me. Met my first wife at that time... those were good times. Got kicked out of one at 16 for being drunk... embarrassed mom that's for sure. I hate Mormonism more than anything else, because it's simply not true and disguises itself as Christian, but those dances were good times. Thoughts...

I liked the Saturday night dances that were semi-informal, though I spent most of the time huddled with a group of other boys who, like me, were too afraid to ask a girl to dance. The more formal dances like Gold and Green Balls were my worst nightmare. I even remember my parents making me go to the stake center to take classes in more formal types of dance, which I hated also.

Loved them. Friends dragged me unwillingly to my first one but once I danced with a girl I was hooked. Where I'm at now, the kids just stand around in groups and generally don't dance. I grew up in the 70's/80's and the music was great and we danced. If I have to attend one, I have to show them how it's done. This was before all kinds of idiotic rules came to be in place because of the actions of a few. But that we have dances is yet another indication that the Church is true.

I used to like the church dances as an adult. The strangest of the rules there was to not allow blue jeans on the basketball courts. The LDS-type dances held outside of church venues only required no smoking or drinking (although a couple of women I danced with had some earlier drinks to get up the nerve to attend). I loved dancing, but left the floor every time they had a line dance or a polka (gotta draw the line somewhere). Snuggling was were it was at.

But that we have dances is yet another indication that the Church is true.

Whenever Love Shack was played, truth was but an instant away.

bcspace wrote:Loved them. Friends dragged me unwillingly to my first one but once I danced with a girl I was hooked. Where I'm at now, the kids just stand around in groups and generally don't dance. I grew up in the 70's/80's and the music was great and we danced. If I have to attend one, I have to show them how it's done. This was before all kinds of idiotic rules came to be in place because of the actions of a few. But that we have dances is yet another indication that the Church is true.

What kind of idiotic rules?

Thews, I hated them because

1) The girls here in the UK outnumbered the guys by a very big margin. Awkward. Dances outside the church were more of a level playing field.

2) Can't dance.

3) Hated the slow dances at the end because I didn't want to sit there waiting to be asked to dance, so walked out before they were about to start

I liked them because

1) Got to meet some really interesting people out in the foyer and used to enjoy chatting.

bcspace wrote:Loved them. Friends dragged me unwillingly to my first one but once I danced with a girl I was hooked. Where I'm at now, the kids just stand around in groups and generally don't dance. I grew up in the 70's/80's and the music was great and we danced. If I have to attend one, I have to show them how it's done. This was before all kinds of idiotic rules came to be in place because of the actions of a few. But that we have dances is yet another indication that the Church is true.

You and I are the same age. We grew up in the same era.

I loved Church dances. They were much better than school dances. The Church dances always played more slow songs. "Stairway to Heaven" was a staple for the last dance!

I have fond memories of hubby and I dancing to Chicago at a BYU dance after he came off his mission. (I believe he proposed to me several weeks after that dance. )

thews wrote:Started going when I was 13. By the time I was 14, it was the best way to meet girls, so I invited my non-Mormon buds to go with me. Met my first wife at that time... those were good times. Got kicked out of one at 16 for being drunk... embarrassed mom that's for sure. I hate Mormonism more than anything else, because it's simply not true and disguises itself as Christian, but those dances were good times. Thoughts...

I find it interesting you were illegally drinking and embarrasses yourself by going to an LDS dance drunk. Sounds like you had issues following God's laws and now hate the Church in some weak way to justify your behaviors.

JMS

bcspace wrote:Loved them. Friends dragged me unwillingly to my first one but once I danced with a girl I was hooked. Where I'm at now, the kids just stand around in groups and generally don't dance. I grew up in the 70's/80's and the music was great and we danced. If I have to attend one, I have to show them how it's done. This was before all kinds of idiotic rules came to be in place because of the actions of a few. But that we have dances is yet another indication that the Church is true.

Hey, since there are a few of us old farts here, what are some of your favorite songs played at Church dances during your "dancing era"?

Mine are:

"Stairway to Heaven"
"Still"
"Against the Odds"
"You're the Inspiration"
"Cherish the Love"
"If"
Anything by Styx

Liz I don't think I EVER got to hear Stairway to Heaven at a church dance!! That would have been cool!!