High school dances are a memory many of us recall. I felt invincible and carefree then; I didn't worry about financial or health issues or losing someone I loved. My biggest concerns were my social life, sports and activities, and keeping up with my schoolwork despite this busy schedule.
A teacher who brazenly assigned homework on a Friday was never my favourite person, and setting a test for Monday, perish the thought! We vehemently argued against these injustices and were appalled if we didn’t win out. To avoid an exam or due assignment, some slackers
skipped school on those Mondays. There was no hope of me being allowed to do this; my parents had me on that school bus every morning, come hell or high water.
My hometown had a population of about 400 people, so there weren't many organized social activities for teenagers. School dances, including the annual fall freshie dance, were significant events.
It was the late 70s, a time before every teen had a cell phone, and even though Facebook and Instagram weren't invented, word of an upcoming dance still travelled quickly from town to town. The method used by dance organizers to invite other schools to a dance was a poster sent by snail mail. Once it was pinned to the bulletin board, students curiously gathered to scope out the information.
I remember feeling excitement and anticipation when my date and I rolled into town with “Saturday Night” by the Bay City Rollers blasting from the truck’s eight-track player. The pounding of loud music could be heard before you saw a vehicle emerging from the dust that clung to the night air. Guys installed lights on their running boards, interior lighting and exhaust stacks to enhance the appeal of their ride.
My dad drove me to and from the first couple of high school dances I attended. Having the older boys see your dad drop you off or pick you up was embarrassing, but I was desperate to get there, and that was my only option. Of course, he parked his brown farm truck with a cap on the back right in front of the hall; I have wondered if he did that merely to annoy me or possibly to get the message across to the boys that he was taking me home.
Legion Hall 2023
Grade 12 - permed hair, blue fortrel dress and a wide-collared shirt.
The Hubs and I started dating on the evening of a school dance. Unbeknownst to me, it was a setup from the start. I was minding my business, casually sitting at a table in the Paris Cafe in Leask with friends before the dance. The Hub’s cousin came in and asked us to join them for a ride in his two-door sports car. We were just sitting there looking uncool anyway, so we eagerly agreed to go.
When we went to get in the car, I thought my friends and I would sit in the back, and his cousin would sit up front beside him. With a couple of quick, well-orchestrated moves, I ended up perched on the center console next to him with his cousin in the passenger seat and my friends tucked in the back.
We danced the night away and have been together ever since; forty-seven years.
Besides the school gymnasium, the community had a small hall built by the Legion in the 1920s. The hall had two tiny bathrooms, a kitchen and an elevated stage. An addition was later added to provide space for chair and coat storage and a place to stand away from the dance floor. School dances were held there so as not to damage the gym floor. For years, no one knew any different, so the little hall seemed adequate until a new one was built in 1980. This was a big event for the community, and both facilities are still operating.
Legion Hall 2023Young people came to school dances from far and wide, in groups of girls or guys, couples on their own or those on double dates with friends.
The lead-up to a high school dance was possibly the most exciting time of the whole event. What I was going to wear and how I would style my hair and make-up were important decisions to be made.
It was common for teenagers to drive around town and go in and out of the dance. The driving around was done for various reasons; they didn’t want to show up at the dance too early and be the first one there; they wanted to be alone with their date, sitting so close you couldn’t squeeze a dime in between or for some it meant, driving out of town to consume some liquid courage.
On these occasions, the town was alive with vehicles, going up and down Main Street or parking in the bullpen to converse. Many drivers stopped in the middle of the street to talk to someone in another vehicle, and others had to drive around them to get by.
Mini skirts and the hippie style had faded away. I don’t recall any of us dressing too far out, but when you’re living something, it seems all good; it’s only when you look back that you think to yourself, “Oh man, what was I thinking”.
I remember wearing wide-legged jeans rolled up at the bottom, a satin shirt with a patchwork design, a jean jacket and navy shoes with black platform soles. If it was cold, I wore my green and white high school bomber jacket. When I think of that shirt, the song “A Coat of Many Colours” comes to mind. I hoped I had misremembered, but when I searched the fashions of the 70s, there it was, screaming out at me from the computer screen. It is probably safe to say the shirt is now part of a quilt somewhere; may it rest in peace.
Dangly earrings, a choker or zodiac mood necklace and a watch were my typical accessories. I had long hair parted down the middle through grade ten and eleven with a bit of natural curl. In grade twelve a permed, chin-length cut appeared. A perm was also one of those things that seemed like a good idea at the time. A generous swath of dark blue eyeshadow and several thick coats of black mascara were necessary to complete the look. I am unsure what look I was trying to emulate, but it may have been Farrah Fawcett.
Grade 12 - permed hair, blue fortrel dress and a wide-collared shirt.The guys wore logo or number t-shirts or patterned shirts, jeans with cowboy boots or runners and most of them wouldn't be caught dead without a hat covering their bushy hair. Their hats were not the expensive ones we see today; one from a team or an agriculture company sufficed.
The lighting at dances was an important feature. The image of a disco ball slowly turning and illuminating the hall with rays of reflected light and strobe lights flashing from the stage was a sight to behold.
Oh, the awkwardness of the teenage years. Girls stood or sat in the single rows of chairs that lined the side walls. Guys stood at the back of the hall waiting for someone else to dance first or trying to get up the nerve to ask a girl to dance.
If a guy approached a girl to ask her to dance and she shut him down, it was a humiliating experience that left his confidence shaken to the core. There are two sides to every story, though; if a girl saw a guy that she was not interested in making a beeline for her, she felt cornered with nowhere to hide, which was also an unpleasant experience.
When my parents attended dances in the 1940s and 1950s, the music was provided by local musicians who volunteered their talents. Eventually, hiring a band became the thing to do until they became too expensive or hard to book, and DJs were employed as an alternative. Technology evolved from records, cassette tapes, and CDs to video dances and computers.
A selection of songs of different tempos was spun with a slow one always ending the evening. Established couples danced with the girl's arms around the guy's neck, his arms holding her close with his hands resting on her lower back and their heads tilted towards each other. If casual acquaintances were dancing when the night-ending song came on, it could be awkward, with one or both praying for it to end as they stiffly shuffled to the tune. A good thing about a slow dance was that you didn’t have to know how to dance to pull it off; you just stood in one spot swaying back and forth. Even the biggest klutz could look like they knew what they were doing.
Music from big box speakers filled the hall. Songs by Queen, Elton John, Nazareth, AC/DC, Aerosmith, The Guess Who, The Bee Gees, BTO, The Rolling Stones, Abba, Van Halen, Steppenwolf, Led Zeppelin, Rod Stewart, and Barry Manilow were on the night's playlist.
We went to dances in other towns, and it was interesting to go to new places, but you never felt quite as comfortable as you did on your own turf. No matter where the dance was, there was always an after-party in a bush somewhere, as no one wanted the night to end.
In the line of duty, teachers and later parents were expected to supervise dances and intervene if a skirmish broke out. A middle-aged person trying to break up a fight between teenagers was a perilous undertaking.
Nothing stays the same forever, and years later, school-sanctioned dances were no longer held in the hall. They were hosted at the school, and the rules were tightened. There came a time when staff and parents were no longer interested in the hassle involved in supervising dances.
Gymnasium - Leask Community School 2023
When you’re a teenager, most of your life is ahead of you, and there is so much to look forward to; friendships are everything, and romance and love are in the air.
There was a great deal of debriefing required on Monday morning after a Friday night dance. How everyone looked, what they were driving, who they danced with and who took who home all had to be discussed in depth. I felt the teacher should wait until these crucial details were analyzed before starting the class. If they had waited, it could have saved me the distraction of writing and passing all those notes!
Leask School 2023 - high school wing - if the walls had ears.......Stay cool! ✌️
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