The Bizarre Reason Mormons Dominate Ballroom Dancing 💃🕺

Let's dive into the bizarre connection between Mormons and ballroom dancing! 💃🕺
From Brigham Young’s surprising support of dance as a way to glorify God, to BYU’s world-class ballroom dance programs, I'll share my research on how Mormons came to dominate the competitive dance scene. Plus, we’ll take a look at famous Mormon dancers from Dancing with the Stars, how the church uses dance for PR and missionary work, and the cultural tensions between modesty, representation, and the evolving dance world.

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A few resources I mention in the video:

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Other resources that may interest you:

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[alyssadgrenfell]

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[theinnbetweenpodcast]

Exmormon & former competitive ballroom dancer here—I found the part of your essay touching on Mormon gender roles being complimentary to the gender roles in ballroom dancing really interesting. It resonated with my own experiences. In my dance classes, we were often told, ‘The woman is the picture, the man is the frame.’ It’s male gaze 101. The female partner is meant to be watched and please the audience while the male leads and supports her. When I was dancing, as a female dancer, it was expected that I would move and appear in a feminine manner that was passive, sensual, and conventionally attractive. This is also reflected in the aesthetic of ballroom. Presentation is a huge part of competitive ballroom. It’s not a coincidence that the majority of the dancers you highlighted at the beginning are thin, blonde, and tanned. That’s how I presented when dancing too. Plus the female costumes are often more colorful, decorated, and sexy in a male gaze sort of way with a lot of additional attention to hair and makeup.

Then there’s an additional element of whitewashing and appropriation within ballroom. The dances in the Latin branch were originated by the indigenous peoples of America, Iberia, and West Africa. However, in a ballroom dance education, the cultural aspects were removed and sanitized in favor of standardized techniques and Western beauty standards.

All of these ideas are certainly echoed in church rhetoric around gender and race.

[paveladamek]

As someone who lived in Provo for a year as an exchange student at PHS it seems to me that Mormons like "drills" and "following orders" and "routine" etc etc etc. So strict ballroom dancing which involves practicing and rehearsing and being "perfect" is right up their alley.

[thatmuagalgeorgie]

I was so Mormon growing up that I wasn't allowed to join Ballroom or any other dance style that had immodest uniforms. So my mom put me and my sister in clogging for 7 years. One year I had a coach that was going to put us in a sleeveless outfit and my mom threatened to pull me and my sister out of all of our routines and teams for the year. The coach apologized and never tried that again. I would have preferred gymnastics....I need therapy 😂

[АндрейП-ую]

I also noticed there are so many mormon authors who write sci-fi and fantasy (Brandon Sanderson, Stephenie Meyer, Orson Scott Card, James Dashner etc). Would be great if you did a deep dive on why mormon writers specifically are so successful in the genre

[itsdeanya]

You always do a Master's Thesis on the topics you cover yourself. Thanks so much for your work, your presentation, your editing, and your channel generally.

[takethektrain]

finally a youtuber catering to a very specific niche i know a lot about! DWTS is beloved by my mom and grandma so this was the most effective thumbnail i’ve ever seen, can’t wait to add ‘the mormons’ to my list of DWTS knowledge thank you alyssa!

[averagejaime]

Alyssa you are truly a woman of the people because you’re answering a question I’ve had for literal YEARS. I have my popcorn and I am SO READY.

[coreenkindred]

I went to school with the Houghs mom. I started ballroom dancing at Rick’s college (BYU Idaho) on the performing team. I was also Miss Ricks. Transferred to BYU and got my Bronze and Silver medal in International Competition. For me costumes were the same as athletic wear.
I was a singer and actress also. Then I got married and had 5 children.
When in a pro show I had to buy regular underwear in order to share a dressing room with non Mormons. For me it was a respectful decision.
At age 57 I left the Mormon church. Best decision ever. Two years ago I won the gold medal for the USA Karaoke championships. I also placed 8th and 9th in the world. I am glad that performance was encouraged in my youth.
Thanks for your work ❤️

[twontree]

i love how you dressed up specifically on theme

[mirandacravetz]

A really positive change I've seen in the dance community recently is the adoption of "ELEF" or "everyone leads everyone follows". It started in the swing dance community but has definitely been making it over to ballroom as well. It's the idea that dance students should always learn both roles. Learning a fixed role impedes your ability to understand the dance deeply and to dance with an arbitrary partner, so instead beginners are taught both roles equally in order to become well-rounded dancers. It goes one step further than just "allowing" people to dance any role by encouraging people not to specialize without a good understanding of what each role does first. I'm a big proponent!

[esotericareads]

I grew up swing dancing as a Mormon in Utah in the 90s and there were social dances at BYU on Saturday nights. I learned so much about how Mormons would use dance to either police purity or to get around the strict rules to get away with touching each other. Dancers at BYU acted like they invented each dance rather than pay tribute or honor those cultures who actually originated them.

[barisalrisul]

This video was fascinating, because I was on a formation ballroom team that did NOT have Mormon affiliation, and I always wondered why the heck we always took second to BYU of all places. We were the cultural opposite - over half our team was some flavor of queer, and folks would regularly switch up roles for anything other than formal competition.

[Macsrus]

My family converted to Mormon when I was a teen.
My first dance, my BISHOP took me on the floor dancing and we cleared the floor, people stood in awe. He twirled me around and held me near his body🫣
He told me to wear a pretty dress next time… and again, we cleared the floor and me and him were the center of attention.
NO 50 year old man should do this with a 15 year old girl….. I started realizing there was some strange things going on in that church….
I got

[suewilliamsbrawn]

When I was in phys ed in high school in the 70’s, and we had a “test” in ball room dancing I always made sure my partner was a Mormon guy. I was not a good dancer but those boys could lead and make me look like I knew what I was doing. (Thanks Bill L)

[agilechange]

I was part of the BYU Ballroom Dance Company, and went on 5 international tours. I'm not mormon to any measure today, and have my own painful stories because my ballroom community was substantially removed from me by my new direction. I'm still grateful for the boon my time with the company gave me in life experiences (22 countries, performing for hundreds of thousands, etc.) I do recognize that a carry a version of complex PTSD, and

[mimimaitri]

The DWTS professionals are pro athletes who need full range of motion, so I get that they fall under the garment exception. But the racy costumes and very suggestive dances seem so in opposition to what I know about beliefs about modesty and intimacy. They can do these dances in very little clothing in front of millions of TV viewers, and the church doesn’t shame them. I’m glad they don’t, but it’s just so hypocritical. It’s reminds me of Scientology where celebrities are allowed all kinds of exceptions because they need their money and PR.

[lcbyri]

wow i am so ready for this niche topic thank u sm for the hour and a half of content alyssa i hope ur having a great day today!!!

[kuusitalo]

Love how you connect doctrine and religious culture to the ideas behind Mormon participation in the arts. That's digging deep. I have [fortunately] never met a Mormon missionary, but find myself absolutely fascinated by your videos. Thank you for the smart and thorough teaching that you do about Mormonism and the culture that goes with it, as well as its permutations.

[Tink]

I wonder if Lindsay never got the housewife messaging because she was a promising dancer, so they saw more potential in her as an influencer/dancing missionary than as a housewife.