Dancing rules at Liberty still an issue among Students: Dance groups careful with the Liberty Way
Rhythm Tap had their first sold out performance on February 22 at the Academy Center of the Arts in downtown Lynchburg along with D-Trex, The Flamettes , other Liberty dance groups and studios from the Lynchburg area.
“ It felt great to finally perform in front of a crowd,” Jackie Swope, one of the founders of Rhythm Tap said. “ We also got to connect with the other four liberty dance groups .”
With Liberty’s rules against dancing and the team carrying Liberty’s name, Swope has had to be mindful about all the content in their choreography. While tap dancing itself is not provocative, the music is something to be careful about.
“ We haven’t had to worry about a routine itself,” Swope said. “ But we have always paid extra attention to what our music is saying. We try to use mostly Christian music and when we use secular music we make sure there is no foul language or messages.”
Rhythm Tap has become a rising dance group here at Liberty but has had to keep in align with the dancing rules in the Liberty Way.
The rules on dancing in the Liberty Way have been viewed by students as vague. The rule states that attendance at a dance carries a 6-point violation and a $25 fine. Swope thinks that the rules are too vague to enforce and wants them changed.
“Going to SGA would be the first step,” Swope said. “I feel like it’s looser now than what it actually says in the Liberty Way but they need to update the document and list what is and is not allowed so it’s not so vague.”
The Liberty Way has become relaxed on certain things like dress code, convocation and other things, but dancing has not been addressed. Christian Lasval, speaker of the house of the Student Government Association explains why the rule on dancing is vague and has not been touched.
“The rule on dancing is structured so that Liberty can enforce the rule if there is some kind of inappropriate conduct when dancing is involved,” Lasval said. “It is very hard to define, if you were going to define what dances would be deemed inappropriate, the list would be endless.”
The church has viewed dancing as taboo for a long time. Alex McAden, worship pastor at Central Wesleyan Church in Asheboro, North Carolina explains how dancing can turn into something bad and not meeting that standard.
“ Many types of dancing come off as very sexual,” McAden said. “In Christianity we believe in purity, so dancing with people can come off as not very pure in a lot of cases.”
McAden with her experiences in youth ministry has used teachings from the New Testament to show young men and women how they should act.
“In the New Testament Paul tells us that our bodies are temples for God,” McAden said. “They are used as a form of worship for God so when we are using our bodies in ways that God does not approve of, with certain types of dancing as an example then we are not doing what we are called to do.”
SGA allows dance groups on campus, allows hall formals and swing dancing classes and has these rules in place so that they can exist and be deemed appropriate. Lasval says that dance groups and other dancing events are fine as long as they adhere to the Liberty Way.
“Having this rule gives SGA the ability to determine what dances are appropriate and inappropriate,” Lasval said. “Dance groups are allowed to continue as long as they do not have inappropriate dance moves in their routines, if you wouldn’t do the routine in front of God then why would you do it in front of anybody else?”
No matter what the dancing rule is, Rhythm Tap is not only still performing but are looking towards ministry-related avenues. Swope has plans for Rhythm Tap for the future.
“We are trying to get out there in the community.” Swope said. “We have contacted multiple churches and we are starting to go out into school districts in Lynchburg and creating relationships with some of the kids because the poverty rate here is high and many of these kids come from broken homes. The ultimate goal is to lead them to Christ.”
