New York Activists Challenge Dancing Ban

Over 200 supporters from New York's Dance Liberation Front and Legalise Dancing NYC groups attended a forum last week examining the city's notorious Cabaret Laws, which outlaw dancing throughout New York.

"As soon as I have two or more people engaged in a synchronized activity, I have to obtain a cabaret license," Sebastian Holzmeister, the owner of Brooklyn's Lunatarium club, told the New York Times.

"You should be free to dance; you should be able to move your body."

The meeting came weeks after Manhattan style guru Graydon Carter criticised city authorities, writing in a Vanity Fair editorial "Mayor Bloomberg has done the unimaginable. He has made New York uncool."

Adding insult to injury, The (London) Times suggested this week that New York has become so dour that TV show Sex In The City no longer makes sense, complaining 'many of the series' fun palaces- the bars, clubs and boutiques- are verging on empty'. They also quoted SITC's raunchy character Samantha as being appropriately unimpressed by the city's new vibe.

"No smoking in bars- What next- No F**king-" she says in an upcoming episode.

LEGALIZE DANCING NYC exists because it really IS illegal to dance in New York City. We assert that dancing is a fundamental right that need not be regulated by government and that a flourishing dance culture is good for the NYC economy and culture...'
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