One Midwest stake recently held a youth conference, running from Thursday through Saturday. Thursday night and Friday night there were dances that went until 11 pm or so, with some kids getting home around midnight or later (those in charge of clean-up, for example, got home well after midnight). With the first dance occurring during the work week, I know of a couple of parents, including working fathers with early-morning duties, who were adversely affected by the unusually late timing of the dance. I’m used to dances ending earlier, like 10 pm. Is there a trend in the Church for youth dances to extend to later times? Just curious!
How Late Should Church Dances Go?
Back when I was in South Dakota, dances regularly went until about 10. We had a New Year’s dance that went until like 12:30, maybe one.
Jeff,
Coming from a youth, I think 11:30 or 12:00 are the best times for a dance to end, at least from my view. On New years we stayed until 1, but only because we had a pancake breakfast.
Dances that go beyond midnight with no reason though seem to allow… less discretion on the part of those who dance, from what I’ve noticed.
Growing up in UT, church dances were 8-11 (school dances were 8-12). In our midwest stake, regular Saturday youth dances are 7-9:30, but the most distant members probably don’t make it home until after midnight. Youth conference dances go later, 10 or 11, depending on where the youth are accomodated.