# Have you ever attended a house party where there was dancing like in movies/TV? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 9, 2019, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attended-a-house-party-where-there-was-dancing-like-in-movies-tv/839945 "2019-09-09T18:19:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attended-a-house-party-where-there-was-dancing-like-in-movies-tv/839945/41 "2019-09-10T16:03:23Z")
Dancing in someone’s house? That sounds so dated, so 50’s - where the teen gang rolled up the living room rug at Sherry’s house, after school, had a little sock hop, sipping pop and eating chips. Those crazy kids!..No, I can’t say I’ve ever seen people dancing at a party in someone’s house. Most houses are too small, and unless a couple were maybe demonstrating how to do the hokey-pokey for their friends’ edification, or were little kiddies under the age of 10 - no. Maybe where I come from, they are more reserved and feel they would look stupid thrashing and hopping around in front of friends…Even in old movies, couples in formal dress, dancing at a soignee event in what is obviously someone’s house, don’t look right. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attended-a-house-party-where-there-was-dancing-like-in-movies-tv/839945/42 "2019-09-10T16:15:28Z")
I went to college in Athens, Georgia in the eighties. There was always a band or three, with one memorable exception. Dancing, yes. The exception was when three of my friends/co-workers, who were in a band together, moved to a new place with a big back yard and gazebo. The decided to have a housewarming prom. Everybody dragged out their formal clothes, or put together some outfit from thrift stores, and the music was mostly big band/classic crooners. One of the few moments in my life that ever seemed truly romantic was dancing to Nat King Cole, under the moonlight, with a friend of a friend. Like, dapper young Englishman in a tuxedo, me in a long gown and evening gloves and pearls, perfect mild evening. But none of those parties was much like a John Hughes movie, nor Animal House. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attended-a-house-party-where-there-was-dancing-like-in-movies-tv/839945/43 "2019-09-10T16:54:39Z")
All the time in high school, and a bit at varsity. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attended-a-house-party-where-there-was-dancing-like-in-movies-tv/839945/44 "2019-09-10T18:03:28Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I don’t get that from the OP. He seems to be saying that _no dancing at all_ goes on at house parties. In any case, I don’t think it’s a trope on TV shows or movies where _everyone_ is dancing together in one room. Usually some people are dancing in the biggest room, while others are sitting around talking or gathered in the kitchen. Rereading the OP, I think the 2nd paragraph is what I was paying more attention to which reads as ‘everyone in one room’ while the 3rd lends itself to the ‘no dancing at all’ interpretation. It’s interesting how perception plays into this - I was going to use the “Jesse breakdown party” scene from Breaking Bad as an example because I remember it as a good example of ‘everyone dancing in one room’. But when I pulled it up on youtube and paid close attention, I noticed that there are a lot of people sitting and standing around the edges of the room, it’s just that the focus is on the dancers moving around in the center. ‘Some people dancing, other people sitting/standing hanging outside of that’ seems to fit the majority of the experiences here. Here’s the link to the scene I’m talking about (It’s from Breaking Bad so there’s drug use in the scene) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iolsny61IdE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iolsny61IdE) ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2019, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attended-a-house-party-where-there-was-dancing-like-in-movies-tv/839945/45 "2019-09-10T18:12:25Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > When I was in college most of the house parties with the track team involved dancing since it seems to be what young women like to do when there is space and music they like. The parties with the football team were much more of the standing around drinking type and the parties at the frat I hung out with typically had at least a room of people dancing. So in my experience the amount of dancing is proportional to the percentage of women at the party. My experience is that the type of activities and entertainment, including dancing and type of music, is directly related to the population and preference of the young women attending. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attended-a-house-party-where-there-was-dancing-like-in-movies-tv/839945/46 "2019-09-11T00:52:44Z")
> [@Mesquite-oh](#): > > Just to be clear, what I am talking about is like what happens in almost all movies that involve teenagers/young people: the pivotal party scene that is almost the same in every movie. In high school? Even medium size “gatherings” had dancing. A party wouldn’t be a real party if there was dancing going on. Usually with a DJ. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attended-a-house-party-where-there-was-dancing-like-in-movies-tv/839945/47 "2019-09-11T00:59:49Z")
> [@BrickBat](#): > > Never one did I ever hear others say or reference “the big party” as some must-attend, lest ye be ostracized event. We had one of those at our house. Unfortunately my wife and I were out of town at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Graymalkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@Graymalkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Graymalkin)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2019, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attended-a-house-party-where-there-was-dancing-like-in-movies-tv/839945/48 "2019-09-11T02:08:42Z")
You went to the wrong “parties” Mesquite. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-attended-a-house-party-where-there-was-dancing-like-in-movies-tv/839945.md?page=2)