Get your dancing sneakers on as a result of the Oklahoma city that impressed the film “Footloose” was again at it Saturday for a competition.Tonight, KOCO 5 seems at how it began.It was the spring of 1980, and Elmore Metropolis Excessive College held its first promenade.”Do you assume it will destroy the ethical lifetime of the group?” a reporter requested.”Nah. I believe it’ll liven it up,” a lady responded.Oklahoma college students dancing underneath a disco ball impressed the enduring 1984 film “Footloose.””It was unlawful to have any sort of public dance. You may not dance in public in any respect,” mentioned Lisa Rollings, the founding father of the Footloose Competition.Dancing was forbidden by a metropolis ordinance, however that modified as soon as college students stepped in.”The entire senior class, the entire junior class, you recognize, and sophomores, all of us went collectively and approached the college board,” Rollings mentioned.Her dad, who was Elmore Metropolis’s mayor, helped change the rule. Rollings additionally mentioned a brand new boy on the town obtained the ball rolling.”I believe Leonard’s most likely the one who requested the query simply because he was an out-of-towner,” Rollings mentioned. “You realize that why can’t we dance right here? It simply by no means occurred to anyone that we might even ask to do one thing completely different. And so then, every time I came upon, it was, ‘You imply we will’t dance?'”KOCO 5, which was generally known as 5 Alive Information on the time, coated the controversial change.”The choice alarmed some native church leaders. Though they didn’t attempt to stop the promenade, they clearly don’t approve of dancing,” reporter Gan Matthews mentioned.”The beat of music, the curve to the physique, the show of the outward individual, we don’t consider is congruent with the rules of Bible doctrine, particularly,” a church chief mentioned.The information made nationwide headlines.”Folks Journal was there that evening of our promenade,” Rollings mentioned. “They did an article. Dean Pitchford noticed it, and he’s the one who truly wrote the screenplay for ‘Footloose.’ The character of Ariel was impressed by Marian Temple Lee, and he or she was my pal. We went to church collectively on the Methodist church.”After which, unofficially, I assume, I’m Rusty – the character Rusty,” Rollings mentioned.Rollings served hen fried steak on the banquet earlier than the dance within the college cafeteria.”Properly, I don’t assume any of us actually knew what we had been doing,” Rollings mentioned. “Truly, we had been … I believe we did the bunny hop at one level. I believe the primary tune that I performed was Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven,’ which you’ll’t dance to.”From the previous to the current, public dancing has grow to be an annual occasion in Elmore Metropolis. Rollings created the Footloose Competition greater than a decade in the past.Irrespective of the music or the strikes, individuals in Elmore Metropolis now simply wish to dance.”We’re simply all excited to nonetheless be right here dancing, you recognize, after so a few years,” Rollings mentioned.The Footloose Competition began Saturday morning and lasted all afternoon on South Principal Road. There have been dance contests, and officers held a COVID-19 clinic for individuals to get vaccinated.
Get your dancing sneakers on as a result of the Oklahoma city that impressed the film “Footloose” was again at it Saturday for a competition.
Tonight, KOCO 5 seems at how it began.
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It was the spring of 1980, and Elmore Metropolis Excessive College held its first promenade.
“Do you assume it will destroy the ethical lifetime of the group?” a reporter requested.
“Nah. I believe it’ll liven it up,” a lady responded.
Oklahoma college students dancing underneath a disco ball impressed the iconic 1984 movie “Footloose.”
“It was unlawful to have any sort of public dance. You may not dance in public in any respect,” mentioned Lisa Rollings, the founding father of the Footloose Competition.
Dancing was forbidden by a metropolis ordinance, however that modified as soon as college students stepped in.
“The entire senior class, the entire junior class, you recognize, and sophomores, all of us went collectively and approached the college board,” Rollings mentioned.
Her dad, who was Elmore Metropolis’s mayor, helped change the rule. Rollings additionally mentioned a brand new boy on the town obtained the ball rolling.
“I believe Leonard’s most likely the one who requested the query simply because he was an out-of-towner,” Rollings mentioned. “You realize that why can’t we dance right here? It simply by no means occurred to anyone that we might even ask to do one thing completely different. And so then, every time I came upon, it was, ‘You imply we will’t dance?'”
KOCO 5, which was generally known as 5 Alive Information on the time, coated the controversial change.
“The choice alarmed some native church leaders. Though they didn’t attempt to stop the promenade, they clearly don’t approve of dancing,” reporter Gan Matthews mentioned.
“The beat of music, the curve to the physique, the show of the outward individual, we don’t consider is congruent with the rules of Bible doctrine, particularly,” a church chief mentioned.
The information made nationwide headlines.
“Folks Journal was there that evening of our promenade,” Rollings mentioned. “They did an article. Dean Pitchford noticed it, and he’s the one who truly wrote the screenplay for ‘Footloose.’ The character of Ariel was impressed by Marian Temple Lee, and he or she was my pal. We went to church collectively on the Methodist church.
“After which, unofficially, I assume, I’m Rusty – the character Rusty,” Rollings mentioned.
Rollings served hen fried steak on the banquet earlier than the dance within the college cafeteria.
“Properly, I don’t assume any of us actually knew what we had been doing,” Rollings mentioned. “Truly, we had been … I believe we did the bunny hop at one level. I believe the primary tune that I performed was Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven,’ which you’ll’t dance to.”
From the previous to the current, public dancing has grow to be an annual occasion in Elmore Metropolis. Rollings created the Footloose Competition greater than a decade in the past.
Irrespective of the music or the strikes, individuals in Elmore Metropolis now simply wish to dance.
“We’re simply all excited to nonetheless be right here dancing, you recognize, after so a few years,” Rollings mentioned.
The Footloose Competition began Saturday morning and lasted all afternoon on South Principal Road. There have been dance contests, and officers held a COVID-19 clinic for individuals to get vaccinated.
