Fight for your right to dance...by dancing!

[clubmaster]

Sorry to forward this to all of you, but it's just a little important.

Let's put an end, or at least start, to Guliani's cabaret bulls**t.......

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Dance Liberation Front is proud to announce the

worlds largest twist-a-thon to be held at the crossroads of the world: Times

Square, NYC. It'sŠ

The Times Square Twist-A-Thon

Saturday April 8, 2000 from 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM.

All participants please meet on the northwest corner of 7th Avenue and 41st

Street.

We will cut a mean rug on the deuce! With your support, we are going to put

the fun back into Fun City!

The DLF has the permits, so bring the kids, bring the family, hellŠ bring

the in-laws, cause we're gonna kick out the jams! Live music, inspirational

and patriotic speech and the coolest par-tay you'll ever tell your

grandchildren about. Who says we can't dance?! Let the mayor know that free

American citizens can move their own bodies with anyone, anytime, and any

place they choose.

Hopefully, you will agree with us that this is a just and righteous cause.

This used to be a free country. America is the home of the free, not the

land of dance crimes. Stand up for your right to get down! Join our battle

cry "Mr. Mayor, we have not yet begun to wiggle!"

Though we have had many events, with hundreds of participants, no property

has ever been damaged, no person has ever been injured, and not one arrest

has ever been made.

The Dance Liberation Front:

The goal of the Dance Liberation Front is to eradicate New York City cabaret

laws, which prevent dancing in unlicensed venues. Norman Siegal, president

of the NYCLU, is the legal representative for the DLF.

Background and Philosophy:

The DLF was founded by Robert Prichard and Reverend Jen Miller after a

number of bars and clubs had been fined and even padlocked simply because

they allowed their patrons to dance. These clubs were closed down via the

enforcement of a cabaret law, which requires an establishment to be licensed

for dancing. Three or more people dancing in an unlicensed venue is

currently unlawful.

New York City's cabaret law's foundations are dubious. Jazz took the city by

storm in the 1920's. Since the majority of jazz clubs at that time were

African-American-owned, the city decided to invoke onerous regulations

designed to outlaw the perceived dangers of wild, rhythmic, improvisational

music and inter-racial dancing. Hundreds of African-American-owned

businesses were shut down. The original laws required cabaret licenses for

horns, drums, dancing, and music combos with more than three musicians. In

addition, the performers themselves were required to obtain licenses. Billie

Holiday, and later Lenny Bruce, were both denied their cabaret licenses in

their day because of their "morality". The law was clearly designed to

restrict expression.

Today, the last vestige of the original statutes - not struck down as

unconstitutional - is the part that refers to dance. In fact, a close

examination of the statute reveals it to be a zoning regulation. At present,

dance in New York City is regulated as if it were pornography. The DLF

believes this to be ludicrous and we believe the vast majority of New

Yorkers would agree with us, given the opportunity.

We believe the government has many important functions, but we are at a loss

to find one on the dance floor.

Past actions and future plans:

The DLF has staged several "dance actions" as a fun and exciting way to

inform the public of our goals. Two of the most notable dance actions were a

600-person conga line up Avenue A from Houston Street to Tompkins Square

Park, and a giant Hokey-Pokey circle around City Hall. In addition to

further dance actions and the upcoming Times Square Twist-A-Thon, the DLF

and the NYCLU will continue to work on effective legal strategies to obtain

our goals.

------------------

- Clubmaster

ClubPlanet.com™ - Because sleep is overrated.

clubmaster@clubplanet.com

http://www.clubplanet.com

[pikachu]

footloose, anyone?

------------------