The Town That Stopped the Music
It sounds like the plot of Footloose, but it really happened: one US town banned dancing for more than 80 years.
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From 1898 until 1980, Elmore City, Oklahoma, lived under a local ordinance that outlawed public dancing. The law was originally passed by town leaders who feared that dancing could lead to drinking and immoral behavior. For generations, students graduated high school without ever having a prom.
That all changed in 1980, when Elmore City High School students petitioned the school board to allow the first-ever prom. The vote was close, but the students won—and the small-town story caught national attention. Just a few years later, their stand inspired the 1984 movie Footloose.
Today, Elmore City embraces its history with the annual Footloose Festival, celebrating the day the town finally let the music—and the dancing—back in.
Learn more about Elmore City’s decades-long dance ban.Got a fun fact of your own? Share it in the forum!
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