World of Dance acceptable outlet for provocative behavior?

In my previous blogs I stated the inappropriateness of dancing done by young girls aged 7-9. The first blog was about a video the girls had done to Beyonce's "Single Ladies." The other done by a few of the same girls to the song "My Boyfriend's Back." Both videos were outrageous, showing the talent of the young girls through mature eyes. Little girls should remain little girls. The maturity level based on the dance was nowhere near age level. The parents, let alone the choreographer should have never let these girls believe the way they are dancing and are dressed is acceptable.In Beyonce's music video, the backup dancers along with Beyonce are more covered than the 7,8, and 9 year old girls; Beyonce is 29.

The girls in the controversial videos have disgruntled the view of young girls in dance and the dance community. A dance studio owner named Katie Hignett stated, "I am disgusted that this smut receives high scores at competitions. It gives dance a bad name." Why should these young girls receive praise with high scores at competitions?  According to dance executive vice president, Larry Peters, for the Hozman group and the dance completion the girls did nothing wrong. “"It was the very first WOD event I had ever attended, and I can tell you the cheering and screaming you heard on the video was from other parents and dance teams that were just blown away by their dance performance and precision. There was NOTHING provocative about what they were doing."How can a grown man openly admit that? It really makes you think about just WHO the girls were performing to. If a grown man from the dancing community has nothing bad to say about the performance, who do the children go to know their actions aren’t appropriate? The amount of desensitization in the adult community, for example Peters, is what is wrong with this whole picture. If the choreographer and parents would have put their foot down against the inappropriateness of the situation there would be no controversy.

World of Dance acceptable outlet for provocative outfits and behavior?

In an ABC report a controversial video streaming the internet was exposed and debated. Written by John Berman and Sarah Netter, the story goes on describing the video. A group of young girls, ranging between 7and 9 years old, took part in a dance competition held by the organization W.O.D. (World of Dance). The girls danced to Beyonce's "Single Ladies" in a not so young and innocent way. The video, which can be watched on YouTube, shows the reactions to not only the live audience, but the internet audience as well. Some people, including the parents see nothing wrong with the production. Others, including much of the YouTube audience and  myself find many reasons why the dance in inappropriate. First off, the age of the girls is frightening. Young children especially girls, are growing up too fast. In an article, part of the NY Daily News, Dr. Phil McGraw weighed on the video and reality of girls growing up too fast. McGraw uses justifiable statements to describe the video such as "wildly inappropriate" and "sexually provocative." As a young woman myself, I could not agree any more with the words described above. 

Children ages 7,8, and 9 should not be dancing inappropriately, especially trained to perform such behavior in front of thousands of people. Where are the parents in this? Do they realize the image the girls are making for themselves? The parents of one dancer had an interview with "Good Morning America" about the issue. The parents stand firm with their girl and state the video has been "...taken completely out of context." The father also stated "The girls weren't meant to be viewed by millions of people." With that said does the fact the girls are bumping and grinding and wearing provocative outfits at such a young age make it alright? No of course not! Just because the girls routine wasn't meant to be showed to anyone outside of the crowd does not make it acceptable for them to be behave in such a manner.


The actions taken by the parents, or lack of, is just as unacceptable as their daughter's actions are. With good parenting this story would have never existed. Hopefully the controversy paralyzes the need for such dancing and actions by children in the future and results in more effective parenting in the lives of their youth.