Recently, the 10/12 administration began questioning the appropriateness of the popular dance style called “grinding.” Grinding is a form of dance in which two or more dance partners intimately rub their bodies against one another. Student leaders and the administration met the weeks leading up to prom to discuss what types of dancing should be allowed. The administration found it difficult to find chaperones, as many teachers are uncomfortable with the style of dance.

After some discussion, student leaders and the administration came up with the following compromise to mitigate the amount of grinding: boys and girls would need to ask each other before dancing and the music would be split into different genres: one third “non-grinding” music (salsa, the Electric Slide, etc.) and two thirds “grinding” music. Groping, bending and simulation of sexual acts would not be permitted. A “two-strikes, you’re out” warning system would also be implemented to rid the dance of extreme sexual dancing.

Although talks of an alternative, non-school functioned “morp” and the idea of parent chaperones for prom circulated, neither garnered much support. Prom, held at the International Balloon Museum, was chaperoned by teachers. The new grinding regulations were enforced by teachers surrounding the dance floor; however, “the rules were not enforceable, and the line between what is appropriate and what is not is nebulous,” said English Department Chair Casey Citrin.

Sonia Roth, 10/12 division head, agreed that the rules were hard to enforce. “If you saw someone doing something in violation of the rules, you cannot reach them through the six layers of bodies,” she said. “I was standing outside [of the students] helpless.”

Having teachers around the dance floor trying to enforce the rules was uncomfortable for teachers and students alike. "They herded us in,” Daniel Bower’10 said. “The whole thing was intimidating.” As 10/12 dean of students David Kim said, “The extreme sexualized dancing that occurred in the past didn’t happen, but…the chaperones were asked to watch the dance more closely. It is not something I had done in the past, and it wasn’t fun. The underlying issues with the style of dancing were still there.”

Roth said that she is opposed to grinding altogether. “It is an intimacy inappropriate in public.” Looking to the future, grinding will not be allowed at any 10/12 dances. Roth said, “In the fall, we will try to have lunch meetings and assemblies for dance lessons.” Although Roth feels that each generation pushes the envelope, she feels that grinding goes too far. “I hope the student will understand why the school can’t support this,” she said. “I hope students come to dances with a good attitude without being obscene…I try doing the right thing, regardless of the consequences.”