As some one who danced, whose sister is a start at dancing and has another set who also dances I do not have a problem with the clothing or the moves. These girls know this is for competition purposes. It is very common to wear skintight, mid-riff, "booty" shorts, tons of makeup (sometimes bordering on pageant) etc. If you haven't lived it you have no idea of the world behind it. I even wore a midriff top in one dance when I was 8 and I am known as "Molly Mormon" in some circles now! My sisters do/have already/or will wear this and possibly even "worse". The outfits are usually chosen based on the song and the "flair" of the dance. I don't see pedophile types at dance competitions or recitals either. The audience is mostly stressed out moms, other dancers, siblings that are mad they've wasted a whole weekend in a random auditorium, and camera crews.

I showed the video to my 14-year-old son and college-aged daughter last night and asked, as objectively as I could, what they thought about it. They were both familiar with the Beyonce video, but hadn't heard about this rendition. My daughter danced through high school, and her response was, "Wow, they are really incredible dancers, but those outfits. . . ouch." My son, who is a very normal middle schooler and who thinks many things (ie You Tube videos, TV comedians, etc) are OK that I think are NOT, said this, "That is really skanky." I didn't know if he was just trying to figure out what I wanted to hear or not, so I asked him, "do you really mean that?" He said, "Mom, I'm in 8th grade and I don't think much is skanky. That is." He was totally repulsed by 8 year olds dressed like that and dancing like that. Trust me, if it had been high school aged girls, he would have had no problem with it.

From the mouths of babes. . .

Once something gets on the Internet or goes viral you have no way to limit access to it.

I think if the dancers were high school aged it would be more forgivable in a lot of peoples eyes and not even newsworthy. I guess I'm taking more of a protective stance on this issue, just the thought of someone referring to my 7 year old neice as a skank makes my blood boil.

They are filmed because parents buy tapes or for other purposes and HAVE BEEN FILMED at least since the 80s before the internet as we know it existed. The point of taping it has never been to put it online. At least not by the professional crews. Most likely this tape was a parents or the studio director for their youtube page (which if that is the case is most likely for sales/bragging purposes for their platinum medals).

Just because it got on the internet and some people didn't like the clothes is not going to change the long-standing tradition of dance competitions and dance studios. They only people that can do that are the people who are paying for it and they obviously don't have a problem. The teacher picks the costume and I have never heard of a parent objecting. If they do they are free to remove their child from the dance but I don't see that happening because of the politics of studio culture. If you have a daughter and she does this/or you were the daughter then you KNOW.

while i still think the outfits are cute, i just dont see them as appropriate for girls that age. i was in dance for 8 years as a kid, and my sister still does competition cheer and dance (she's 18), so i understand how dance has evolved over the years. i understand its a performance art. and honestly, that dance was AWESOME. but as a mom... i would NOT be ok with the instructor picking out that costume for my 8 year old. i would have spoken up.

as for pedophiles... you cant live life worrying about them. if I did that, we'd never go to the park, the mall, the gym, shopping ,etc. perverts like that should be more worried about ME than I am of them. doesnt mean i'm not aware of the goings on in my house, neighborhood and community. but i'm not going to forbid my 4 year old from wearing a bathing suit in the front yard sprinkler out of fear of a pervert.

I showed the video to my boyfriend and though he was impressed with the level of skill these girls demonstrated, he was shocked when I told him the girls are aged 7-9. He thought they were much older.

I understand these girls are performers. But there is no reason why an 8 year old girl's butt cheeks should be hanging out of her costume.

There's a difference between a 7 year old in a bathing suit swimming and a 7 year old dressed up to be a sex object, and thats what bothers me about this. It's not just the outfits or the dance routine but the idea of having 7-8 year olds emulating adults and adult behaviour. I remember when the talk of oversexualization typically applied to preteens but now Its hitting younger kids. What's next, thong diapers?
People need to let kids be kids.

i bet people are ok wit kiddie thongs, too.

i don't want my 8 year old talkin about putting a ring on anything.

Not sure I like the dance, but they are really good and honestly it is the style of dance now, especially for that type of music. However I do have a serious issues with the outfits. Not only were they skimpy, they were designed to be sexy, which is all kinds of wrong for that age.

ITA. This is the point I was trying to make.

As I said, when I danced, if the top was more revealing, the bottoms offered more coverage, and if the bottoms were skimpy (just leotards and tights), the top was more covered. You CAN have freedom of movement and wear a one-piece, short or long sleeved leotard and tights (gymnasts do it!). And instead of thigh-high boots, they could have worn jazz shoes. It's the SENTIMENT that is enraging people.

But is rage even appropriate here? I mean, annoyance, frustration, eyerolling, or resignation maybe, but rage?

I just got back from a dance recital and had this thread in mind as I was watching. The little girls were in little girl costumes and they were adorable :) Even the older girls were well covered in comparisons to the kids from this video. This was the case when my kids were in dance too. It's unnecessary, but, like Drolefille says, eyerolling, yes.. enraged? That seems like an extreme reaction.

THIS.

I finally saw the video-in-question. All I could think was "Didn't Mimi from RENT wear something very similar during her "performance" at the Cat Scratch Club?" Just the fact that these little girls wore something I could compare to a stripper's wardrobe bothers me.

The dance was okay for the most part but there was a little hunching and bucking that didn't need to be there. I was so torn between being amazed at their talent (especially the "lead" girl with the brown hair) and being aghast. Dance moves aside, I think they would be just as talented in more fabric.

If you've read any of the comments on Youtube or in response to the parents' interview, you will see rage from some people. People get really nasty in the comment section from any article/blog/video, but this one has really brought out some strong opinions.

I used the word "rage" to imply that some of those people opposed are very angry and disturbed by the sexuality of the young girls (costumes and certain movements).

Perhaps "rage" isn't the best term; controversial might fit better. No matter the word used, there are strong reactions. I apologize if my description was an exaggeration. I did not intend it to be so.