Education Hour

Not in My Day! Dance, Race, and Moral Panic in American Social Dance

Social dance is a place for people to meet, flirt, and learn social norms. Since the beginning of European settlement in North America and accelerating in the 20th century, old fogies have criticized the youth of their day for their inappropriateness on the dance floor. As a particular feature in American life, these concerns often contained a fear of racial mixing and class instability. We’ll take a look at some of the dances that caused hand- wringing in the 1800s, tsk-tsking in the 1930s, and general tut-tutting all the way to the turn of the millennium. Youth are especially invited to attend and will not be asked to demonstrate.

Caitlin Osborne has taught dance and dance history at Penn State University, Altoona campus, since 2005. She brings her studies in anthropology (BA, Williams College) and history (MA, University of Massachusetts) to bear on the exploration of gender, culture, and race in dance. She has attended St. Andrew’s since 2001.