Editor's note: This is the third article Becky Blackburn Griffin has written about church youth dances. The first is "Why aren't our kids going to church dances?" and the second is "Are church youth dances outdated?"
A recent article in the New Era encourages youths to get out on the dance floor, but for many young people, this can be terrifying.
With youths texting and spending time on social media, it’s difficult for them to interact face-to-face. How do we get youths to start dancing? A few youths and leaders have found some creative solutions.
1. Get teens involved with the planning.
Shauna Ogden, a stake Young Women president for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Provo, feels that getting teenagers involved in the planning is paramount. “They have to own it," she said. "This day and age, they won’t come to something that we (the adults) have planned.”
Teens should do most of the talking at their planning meetings while the adults offer guiding questions such as “What’s the purpose of this activity?” and “What do we want to accomplish?” The leaders can also help youths work through the logistics of the dances, asking, “Who would do this?” and “How should we facilitate rotations?”
The youths should not only help plan the dances but also decorate for the dance, blow up balloons, hang lighting, take turns running activities at the dance and help clean up afterward.
2. The more the merrier.
Ogden says her group's New Year’s Eve dance involves six stakes. This not only provides more leadership support but also brings in between 500 and 600 youths. The teens loving being with other teens, and Ogden’s stake was recently asked by area authorities to hold monthly dances involving nine stakes, which means more young people coming together.
3. Consider hiring a professional DJ who understands LDS youth standards.
While Mormon stake leaders might not feel they have the budget to pay a professional disc jockey, it is more feasible if several stakes pool money. This may be a good investment if it dramatically increases turnout to the dances.
Suzanne Merrill, who has hosted large events for Utah California Women and political fundraisers, has found it worth it to invest in good entertainment because so many more people attend. Word also gets around that the gathering was outstanding and more people come the next time. Merrill says that “you’re only as good as your last event."
Kim Rogers, who is LDS and president of the American Disc Jockey Association, says a professional DJ will bring in the newest music that youths want and can bring better lighting, dry ice fog, video, laser shows, hashtag printers and confetti shooters. Rogers has a website where teens can vote ahead of time for the music they would like him to play at the dance.
Of the 500 teens who recently attended one of his dances, 300 had voted on the website before they came. Voting for music ahead of time gets teens more excited to go because they feel their voices have been heard. Rogers also projects the teens' selfies on the walls at the dance and prints their pictures as a keepsake for the night.
A good DJ, Rogers says, will interact with the youths, getting them to dance with each other and even sing to the lyrics. In essence, a DJ is an entertainer that helps create energy and excitement at the dance. “I have all the kids engaged in the party," Rogers said. "There are no wallflowers.”
That being said, he also understands that all of this fun must be done inside “the framework that fits within the gospel message.”
Rogers, known professionally as Dr. Drax, said most LDS DJs are willing to meet church leaders halfway on pricing, but it’s hard for them to do it for free because it’s their livelihood and weekends are their prime time. If the dance is well attended, stakes are paying only $1 to $2 per attendee.
Michelle Dawson, a stake Young Women president in Glendale, Arizona, recently had a professional DJ a dance and said it was a success. She says the stake's dances had become stale, and the “just invigorated things … We were really taken back by it.”
People can find good professional disc jockeys on the American Disc Jockey Association website.
4. Start traditions.
Starting traditions gives teens something to look forward to every year. Darcie Chamberlain of Blanding, Utah, is a stake dance specialist. Every year, her stake holds the "Pixie Dance" the Wednesday before Valentine’s day.
A few weeks before the dance, seminary students volunteer to be pixies. They are each assigned a teenager of the opposite sex and deliver treats and gifts to him or her in secret.
Youths want to come to the dance to find out their pixies' identities. It’s been a popular tradition with about 400 teens coming to the dance from just one stake.
Ogden's region plans its New Year’s Eve dance around the the churchwide Young Men and Young Women theme for that year. The last New Year’s dance used this year’s theme, “Embark in the Service of God.”
The stake planned the dance around a cruise theme, having youths “board” a ship as they came into the building. Teens were given a lanyard and passport that could be stamped each time they completed an activity, including miniature golf, giant Twister, a photo booth, a board game room, a donut string relay and a missionary room, where they wrote to missionaries from the stake. They also had a “24 hour buffet,” offering such food as meatballs, Italian soda and chocolate fountains. A large undertaking, the work was divided between six stakes, making the work load manageable.
5. Offer a few activities before the dance.
Ogden said teens often come to a dance feeling nervous. A few activities can help them relax. Her stake sets up a karaoke machine, a basketball hoop and a Twister game for the youths as they come into the dance. These activities break the ice, and she says 90 percent of the kids are dancing halfway through the dance.
6. Teach youths how to dance.
Chamberlain says her stake has a six-week dance workshop at the beginning of every year, which lasts 45 minutes after mid-week activities. Two hundred teens gather to learn different dances such as the cha-cha, waltz, polka, fox trot and swing. A drill team member also teaches the youths a modern line dance. These workshops prepared teens for the Pixie Dance.
The youth dance is an important tradition, one that helps youths learn to interact with each other so they will feel more comfortable dating when they get older.
Do you have any ideas on how to reboot the youth church dance?
Becky Blackburn Griffin is the mother of five children and is a native of Price. She graduated from BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School. Email: beckyblackburnwrites@gmail.com