Sprit Day & 80's Dancing

So the Middle School had a spirit week a few weeks back....Crazy Hair Day....Twin Day....80's day. The only day I took a picture of was crazy hair day. This was all Renae's design -- 4 different ponytails each done differently: braided, teased, bun, straight, & a ringlet or two on the side. It was fun & turned out cute. I'm impressed that she is brave & confident enough to go to school looking like that...I don't know if I was at that age.

The "80's Spirit Day" began our family's recent obsession with the 80's. Renae decided to be an 80's Rock Star for Halloween and she and her best friend decided to make up an 80's dance. Well of course Eric and I had to help them get it right. Much to their surprise we told them we did not dance "the twist" or "the shuffle" -- it was "the running man" and "the Pac Man" and "the roger rabbit." We tried our best to show them the dances (we were both avid dancers  -- at church, school & the occasional dance club --- back in the day) but they thought we were crazy or just making it up so we had to go to a higher source....YouTube. We found a great instructional video straight out of  the 80's -- the instructor had on leg warmers & a head band -- that helped them see that we weren't entirely crazy....well at least not any crazier than everyone else in the 80's. But I looked online again and can't find it anywhere....although there are plenty of others on youtube...but none I thought worth sharing.

Then, you HAVE to check out the following clips. This man does a show that is a short dance showing how dance has changed through the past 5 or 6 decades.  I wasn't born for the beginning but I promise you, most of you will recognize A LOT of these dances. It was like being transported back to a Stake Dance in 1988 or a high school dance from 1992. I could remember vividly seeing people (and myself) doing these dances. Then I saw some of the dances from my college days (late 90's)....and then, I must admit I am too old to know what he is doing during the last minute or so of his montage. But, if you were a dancer at all (during the past 4 decades) you must watch these clips. The first is my favorite but they are both good.

Evolution of Dance (6 min)

Evolution of Dance 2 (4 min)

Oh, and my final comment for this post is Sadie's comment from a few days ago. I guess she has heard the term "80's" being used around the house lately and realizes it is from a time in the past. She was coloring a book of dinosaurs and said, "Mom, the dinosaurs lives a LONG, LONG time ago. Like in the 80's!"  So there you have it, we are as old as the dinosaurs. I knew I felt old for a reason!