Playing by the Rules
“Dances” for $200, Alex.
And the answer is:
These Saturday night dances in Orange County--which rotate from site to site--are so hip that they attract up to 700 teenagers from as far away as Marina del Rey and Corona.
Beep-beep.
What are raves?
No, I’m sorry.
Beep-beep.
What are warehouse parties?
Sorry, wrong.
Beep-beep.
What are Mormon youth dances?
Correct. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds dances--in Anaheim, Orange, Newport Beach, Rancho Santa Margarita, Irvine--that have become popular enough to attract the coolest high school kids, ages 14 to 18, Mormon or not.
The Mormon mega-dance phenomenon is unique to Southern California, where large congregations and easy freeway driving have teenagers crisscrossing Orange County on Saturday nights traveling the church’s dance circuit.
This isn’t your father’s church dance. In most ways, the Mormon dances--designed by the kids--are like any other you’d find in high schools. Fog machines, cool deejay, earsplitting music, wallflowers, cliques, girls, boys, hormones.
“It’s a fun Saturday night hangout,” said Shelby Pollard, 15, who came to last Saturday’s Irvine dance with eight of her friends, seven of whom weren’t church members.
But differences do exist. First, there’s the dress code. Collared shirts, ties and no jeans or jewelry for the guys. Skirts of modest length for the girls.
Ray “Dr. G” Gubernick, a Costa Mesa chiropractor and the world’s friendliest bouncer, checks the attire of all who hope to reach the dance floor in Irvine.
Did you come to the dance wearing a T-shirt and jeans? No worries, says Gubernick, a five-year dance veteran who’s seen it all. He reaches into a nearby closet filled with ties, collared shirts, khaki pants and some “kind of ugly” skirts for a teenager who didn’t know about the dress code or thought he could sneak past the gatekeeper.
“Some of them come from so far away,” Gubernick said. “Sending them home would be heartbreaking. We’d rather have them here on Saturday night than any other place.”
And then there’s the dance card, which is required to gain entrance, issued by a church bishop who goes over the dance rules with teenagers: no drinking, smoking or drugs, honor the dress code, and remember that modesty is a virtue.
Those who don’t have a card are ushered into a room with a church leader who spends a few minutes going over the rules.
“No. 1: Have fun,” said Irvine church official Steve Kupferer last Saturday night to a group of 15 teenagers from Orange, Yorba Linda, Cerritos and Cypress. “Also, no gum chewing, no moshing, slam dancing, break dancing, stage diving . . . Shirts stayed tucked in and ties and shoes on . . . Now go have a good time.”
That they do. Dancing in large groups, laughing with newfound friends in the corners of the gym and picking that special someone for the rare slow dance. Though the dances are well chaperoned--Irvine deploys 15 parents on a big night--the adults try hard to remain unseen.
The Irvine dance has become the most popular in Orange County--largely because it’s the only Mormon dance scheduled on the first Saturday of the month, attracting more than 700 students to the church’s gym on some nights. Last Saturday, despite competition from two local homecoming games, about 500 kids packed the gym.
“By going to one dance, you’ll probably meet 20 new kids by the end of the night,” said Foothill Ranch’s Brent Sorensen, 15, a regular on the Mormon dance circuit.
But the dances are not just popular with the kids.
“We’ve been very pleased with the dances as parents,” said Bruce Haglund, who’s chaperoned the Irvine dance for 14 years. “It provides a wonderful environment to meet new people and make new friends and let the kids spend their Saturday night doing something they enjoy doing.
“Most of the girls my son’s dated he’s met at these dances,” Haglund said. “You can look at our phone bill and view all the different cities that appear on it and see how successful he’s been.”
The dances also provide hope for church members whose kids haven’t embraced the religion.
“I struggle to get my daughter to church,” said Irvine resident Fred Judd. “But she loves these dances. It’s neat to have her associate with primarily Mormon kids, kids that follow these rules.”
OK, Alex, I’ll take “Dances” for $1,000.
And the answer is:
“Not just cute, but hot!” is how 16-year-old girls at a Mormon dance describe these.
Beep-beep.
What are boys?
William Lobdell, editor of Times Community News, looks at faith as a regular contributor to The Times’ Orange County religion page. His e-mail address is bill.lobdell@latimes.com.
