Had a similar experience some years ago with two clubs I used to frequent. They were technically required to have a “dance hall permit” but this was only checked and enforced when politics deemed it necessary. Both places were punk/goth bars on a major street near a large college campus, so in this particular instance there were times that keeping the freaks in line and out of sight was the desired effect of forbidding dancing (examples would be around elections and Parent’s Day at the university). However, we knew what they were doing and getting a dance hall permit reinstated was expensive, so in an act of defiance that continued to generate revenue for OUR bar, we went out anyhow. We would drink, sit and play cards, checkers or chess with the music blaring just as loud as always. One time we even had a huge game of duck, duck, goose on the dance floor—with the cops watching it all.

This was in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Ohio State University (OSU) campus. Duck, duck, goose happened at a place called Crazy Mama’s, which incidentally was the inspiration for the song “Mirror People” by the band Love and Rockets.

Are you being serious. I wanted to go to Japan one day and dance and hang out with people. It would be boring there if they took away dancing. They just can’t do that, they will do dancing underground, or some how find a way to dance. That’s just ridiculous that they would do this.

@Kjeld: Oh, no, not in Japan. Just relayed the story as it seems to have some common elements with what is going on in your world right now. Thought you may see the parallels too and find it kind of interesting.

I think it’s because dancing is never just dancing. It’s steeped in cultural significance and that resonates in the shared world consciousness. It invokes emotions, translates ideas, and can be used to bring people together or divide them. It causes a very primal response and that’s why dancing (and music too) has been viewed as something that needs to be controlled.