Not too sure what triggered this memory last night but I was thinking about the school dances I went to in Middle School. I had already attended one year of Middle School in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. It was a school that housed 5-8 graders. The 5th graders were not allowed to attend school dances there. We moved to Dumfries, Virginia between the 5th and 6th grades. There I was enrolled in Graham Park Middle School.
The dances were held in the school gym and we could also walk out into a large hallway area just outside that was lighted. Every dance was always attended by a group of friends, usually of the same sex. We would huddle together and talk about the boys who were always huddled close by. There were bets to go ask boys to dance especially if the girls knew you had a crush on someone. Boys and girls would scuddle back and forth across the gender line to relay messages and encourage trouble. I have one memory of talking to a guy named Robert and telling him that a girl named Heather liked him and that he should ask her to dance. By the 8th grade we were much cooler. We sometimes even hung out in boy/girl groups.
I remember when the Electric Slide became really big. There was one dance where only a hand full of people knew how to do the dance. By the next dance, everyone had learned and the gym was full of kids doing the electric slide. It was a lot easier to dance when everyone was dancing so you did not have to worry about people watching.
It is really funny looking back and thinking about what a big deal school dances were at that age. Now, if we are somewhere (usually weddings) I can't wait to get my booty shaking. There are no gender lines anymore.
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