If bad dancing is a strategic social phenomenon, it makes sense that there’s quite a bit of writing out there about the subject. Our editorial staff has rounded up a list of some of the best writing on the subject. It’s Friday, after all!
by The Editors
1. “Alive and Kicking” by Katy Vine
Texas Monthly, September 2004
America’s first drill team–the Kilgore Rangerettes in Kilgore, Texas–is an institution. There are only 30 spots on the team, all of which are coveted by dancers throughout the state. In 2004, 78 hopefuls attended the squad’s grueling camp with the purpose of making it through tryouts and into one of the open spots. Read Katy Vine’s profile of these girls as they don bedazzled cowboy hats and high-kick their way through camp, because it is a world unlike any other.
2. “The Muse of the Coyote Ugly Saloon” by Elizabeth Gilbert
GQ, March 1997.
Before it was a wet-t-shirt-contest-disguised-as-a-box-office-success starring the likes of Piper Perabo and a very underaged LeAnn Rimes, the story of Coyote Ugly was told in longform, by someone who had worked the rail herself. Elizabeth Gilbert spins more than one whiskey-soaked tale of late-night bar dancing in this very true-confessions-of-a-lady-bartender piece that appeared in GQ. But perhaps the craziest part of this story (spoiler alert) is that it’s in this bar that Gilbert meets the man who will become her first husband, then later break her heart and send her off on a spiritual journey that will eventually become her best-selling book Eat, Pray, Love.
3. “A Prima Ballerina Takes a Final Bow” by Elizabeth Kaye
The New York Times, January 1, 1995
With her final performance weeks away, famed ballerina Heather Watts reflects back on her career. An artist of deep emotion and talent, Watts discusses her experiences at the School of American Ballet and the tutelage of George Balanchine, who would eventually make her a star in his company, the New York City Ballet. The article is set soon after her 40th birthday, the typical age of retirement for professional ballerinas, and Watts has had time to mourn her career. She’s optimistic and eager to embrace her post-career self, yet nostalgic of the life she’ll leave behind.
4. “Wildcatting: A Stripper’s Guide to the Modern American Boomtown” by Susan Elizabeth Shepard
Buzzfeed, July 25, 2013
Although the idea of longform articles on Buzzfeed initially had some readers scratching their heads, the viral post and cat gif factory followed through. This examination of the North Dakota oil fields is one of the better Buzzreads on the site, due in part to its unique perspective. The piece presents the oil boom through the eyes of exotic dancers who traveled there for the same reason as the young men they entertain–the hope of a well-paying job.
5. “Dancing the Body Electric” by Laura Jacobs
City Journal, Winter 2011
“A look back at New York’s 1970s dance boom.” There’s an ebb and flow to the fine arts in New York City, and in the 1970s, the culture of dance was at high tide. Liza Minelli filmed specials at the Lyceum Theatre, Russian dancers Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov defected from the Soviet Union to pursue careers in the U.S., and everyone could relate to the must-see musical of the day, A Chorus Line.
Photo: Seattle Municipal Archives
