Blast from the Past

At dinner with friends last night, I mentioned a recent surreal experience of attending my first Stake Dance in about 100 years. My friend responded, "now that's the kind of thing you need to be blogging about." So, here it is...

After several years of working with adults and then small children at church, I was recently given the opportunity of working with the youth again (12 - 18 years old). To any one who has enjoyed this role, you understand the unique combination of energy, faith, drama and hormones that these young people bring into your life.

One of my areas of responsibility is the Stake Dance. I'm not sure how far back into our church's history Stake Dances run, but I'm pretty sure that they have been going on forever. And in many ways, it feels like it's the same dance that has been going on since about 1954.

Don't get me wrong, there are some dramatic changes over the years. First and foremost, the dress. When I attended, it was dresses and panty hose for the young ladies and shirts and ties for the young men (it was hugely contraversial if a young woman tried to remove her shoes... bad form!). A typical dance these days is all about jeans, tee-shirts, and even sweat pants (yes, on the girls). There is also far less hair spray destroying the environment these days. The music of course has changed as well, although there were several songs that date back to the 80's that still get air time. One other change is that with the exception of "slow songs" (this term must be said with a perfect blend of expectation and breathlessness) no one appears to ask any one else to dance (to an old woman like myself, it appears to be an ancient tribal ritual where the males are hopping in one circle and the females in another.... bizarre).

But Stake Dances are a testament to the aphorism that "the more things change, the more they stay the same". When I walked through the doors as a chaperon, all of the sudden I was 15 years old again and felt that long forgotten yet forever familiar feeling of anticipation blended with fear. Good stuff! I found myself for a split second looking for Greg Hill (who I haven't seen in 30 years) so that we could stand by the door and talk about his Mustang. It was as though, in the Cultural Hall of every chapel a time warp occurs so that...

• The boys still look perpetually younger and more awkward than the girls, but somehow the girls still haven't noticed this fact.
• There are still those same three young women singing at the top of their lungs, squealing at 30 second intervals, and chronically checking around to ensure that they are seen. (I know... I'm pretty sure I was one of them in 1979.)
• Those poor souls who still haven't figured out that "no one" shows up before 9 pm still wait patiently for the cool ones to arrive, after making the horrible faux pas of arriving on time.
• Slow dances are still performed in a manner that hasn't been seen at a school dance since Eisenhower was president.
• At Stake Dances, Line Dancing has never gone away... and I'm still lost and annoyed every time they play one.
• There are still "It" Songs that draw every kid onto the dance floor like lemmings. Ironically, 30 years later, it's still Journey that does it. (thanks Glee) When "Don't Stop Believin" comes on a gasp is heard through the crowd, and everyone flocks to the center, no one dances, but every kid knows every word and they belt out the song so loudly you can't even hear Steve Perry (thanks Glee).

Although these dances look kind of like a first year course at Arthur Murray's School of Dance and could certainly be described as quaint or less charitably as woefully out of touch, it's delightful to watch youth actually interact so wholesomely in a very unwholesome world.

Seeing these youth moving past all the fears and the obstacles they face and find a way to communicate and connect brought my a little more life to my step and hope for the future. If you want a lift, offer to chaperon a dance (shameless plug for volunteers!), and see that the best things in life haven't changed... Except, sadly, they no longer play Stairway to Heaven for the last dance....