Monday, April 8, 2013

What are we living in Bomont? Germany's Tanzverbot

The clock strikes midnight and unlike Cinderella, you still have your pretty dress and glass slippers, but no more ball for you, the dancing must stop. Two days a year, this is what Germany is like.


Tanzverbot (dancing  ban) is a leftover religious practice in Germany where public dancing (go ahead and boogie it up in your house if you want to) must stop at midnight on Good Friday and All Saint's Day. You think it would be just a rumor, that no club would really make everyone stop dancing at midnight, but yes, it is true. A few years ago she was out with some friends on Halloween and at midnight the music stopped and everyone was told that they could stay but that there would be no more dancing. When people tried to keep grooving to the music in their head, bouncers asked them to stop or to leave. This is because clubs can actually be fined if someone checks and they have allowed dancing to continue.
laurenashleyedwards.blogspot.com

So are we living in Bomont (Footloose reference here, cough cough, if the big picture was not enough)? Or is this just another strange tradition (and cultural mix-up) that shows how powerful the church still is here in Germany.

There must be some small places in the USA that also have a law like this but we haven't found them. Let us know if you have ever lived/visited an area with a ban on dancing!


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