Sadie Hawkins dance
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In the United States, the Sadie Hawkins Dance is usually a dance or less formal dance sponsored by a high school, middle school or college, in which female students invite male students, contrary to the usual custom of male students inviting females to school dances such as Prom in the spring and Homecoming in the fall.
History
The Sadie Hawkins dance is named after the Li'l Abner comic strip character Sadie Hawkins. November 13 was Sadie Hawkins Day, when the unmarried women of Dogpatch got to chase the bachelors and marry the ones they caught. The event was first introduced in a strip published on 13 November 1937.[1]
In the U.S., this concept was popularized by establishing dance events to which the woman invited a man of her choosing, instead of demurely waiting for a man to ask her. The first known such event was held on 9 November 1938.[1] Within a year, hundreds of similar events followed suit, and the tradition became a permanent fixture in American culture.
Schools usually schedule the Sadie Hawkins dance during November, or, to avoid conflict with Homecoming dances and to provide a special occasion near Valentine's Day, January or February. Even in schools without a Sadie Hawkins event, certain songs at the traditional dances may be announced as "Ladies' Choice" or "Sadie Hawkins" songs in which girls ask boys to dance, rather than the reverse.
Alternate names
Similar dances are sometimes called Spinsters' Balls for dances organized for adults beyond school age. The custom of holding Spinsters' Balls is not limited to the U.S., and exists in cultures such as Australia which do not have Sadie Hawkins in their heritage.
Within the U.S., a Sadie Hawkins school ball may be called a
- Girl Break
- Beau Dance
- Morp, derived from spelling "Prom" backwards
- Girls Treat
- Ladies' Choice
- Phil Thompson Dance (first started in Millerton, NY)
- Backwards Dance
- Vice-Versa
- Flip-Flop
- Tolo (derived from Chinook Jargon, meaning "to earn" or "to win")
- Sponge Dance
- Turnabout
- L.P.A or W.P.A. for "Ladies Pay All" or "Women Pay All" where the female is also expected to pay associated costs
- T.W.I.R.P. for "The Woman Is Responsible To Pay" or "The Woman is Required To Pay"
If held during the winter months, the Sadie Hawkins dance may be called the Snow Ball or some other wintry name. In a variation on pure Sadie Hawkins custom, a particular song may be designated a snowball dance by the disc jockey or master of ceremonies.
In that case, also known as "speed dancing" (because of its similarities to speed dating) the DJ picks two people to start dancing (usually slow). Periodically the DJ shouts "snowball," signaling that the dancers must find new partners, thus increasing the number on the floor. Half of the people asking new dancers to come to the floor will be girls asking boys, Sadie Hawkins-style.
By the end of the song, most all the people at the dance are on the dance floor. The "snowball dance" is typically used by DJs to get the dancing started, as school dances can be notoriously slow to start. In some areas, people chosen to dance cannot refuse, thereby ensuring people get onto the dance floor, and thus the "snowball" gains momentum and grows.
References in popular culture
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An episode from the first season of Popular, Hope in A Jar, where Brooke asks Harrison and Sam asks Josh to the Sadie Hawkins Dance.
An early eighties episode of The Facts of Life has Natalie Green upset over whether or not to ask a boy to a Sadie Hawkins Dance.
A 2003 episode of the Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire focused on a Sadie Hawkins Dance. Al Capp Enterprises unsuccessfully sued Disney over the unauthorized use of the "Sadie Hawkins" trademark. [1]
On the episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer entitled "I Only Have Eyes for You", the story line features a Sadie Hawkins dance taking place in 1998 and flashbacks to a Sadie Hawkins dance in 1955.
The book High School Musical Stories From East High #2: Wildcat Spirit is themed around the Sadie Hawkins dance, during East High Spirit Week.
On the episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation entitled "The Game", Data tells Wesley Crusher of his experience at a Sadie Hawkins dance at Starfleet Academy, and Wesley tells Data it's still held every year.
On the episode of the Nickelodeon animated series My Life as a Teenage Robot entitled "Dancing with my Shell", the lead character, XJ-9 (also known as Jenny Wakeman), goes to the school Sadie Hawkins Dance with another robot known as the Silver Shell, only to have the day end in disarray.
The rock band Relient K has a popular song called Sadie Hawkins Dance.
In an episode of Boy Meets World there is also a Sadie Hawkins dance.
A Sadie Hawkins dance is a plot point in X-Men: Evolution episode 26, Shadow Dance.
During the The War at Home episode "Kenny Doesn't Live Here Anymore", a protest is held at the local high school because gay students are excluded from the school's Sadie Hawkins dance.
In the book Twilight, the high school has a Ladies Choice dance.
Also on an episode of Family Matters, there was a Sadie Hawkins dance.
See also
- Leap year, for traditions on women proposing marriage
- Powder Puff, an annual high school football game pitting girls against girls