Image Credit: jlinemusic / Instagram & Google Maps
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
Parents in Lebanon, Tennessee, are demanding answers after a New York dance crew performed at an elementary school last week.
James Linehan, along with back up dancers, took time out of his “Dirty Pop Party – Spring 2023” tour to appear at Sam Houston Elementary School, under the name Vital Dance Crew, and performed songs that left some children feeling “uncomfortable” and parents wondering why they received no notification of the event.
Parents report that their children came home saying that the dancing was inappropriate, with “girls acting sexy” and identified the group who had performed as J-Line music.
Upon looking at J-Lines’ social media presence, many parents found that the group does not align with their values.
While the group did not wear the risque outfits shown on J-Lines’ social media channels for their school visit, parents were concerned that children would look up videos of the group on YouTube or see their social media posts.
“My main concern is what kind of screening was done prior to letting these people in a school filled with children regardless of the topic,” said one parent.
The topic, according to some of the children present, was “kindness” and the J-Line singer “talked about not fitting in at his small town school.”
Parents are concerned that school administrators “either knew what they stood for and what they represent and chose to bring them anyways. Or they didn’t look into them to see what they were introducing the kids to.”
Parents also took issue with some of the music that was performed, saying it was an affront ahead of Easter celebrations. One of the songs, Lady Gaga’s Bloody Mary, contains lyrics that they say mock Jesus. Other songs that were part of the performance included Anti-Hero by Taylor Swift, and Flowers by Miley Cyrus.
According to parents, if a Christian organization came to the school, there would have been a permission slip needed and communication about the event sent home.
Some parents questioned if the school would have allowed a group to come in to talk about kindness if they were known to post pictures of guns on social media.
Others asked if the recent bill signed into law by Governor Bill Lee would shield their children from entertainment they deem inappropriate. That “commonsense child-safety bill” is currently blocked by a Federal judge.
Director of Schools, for the Lebanon Special School District, Brian Hutto released the following statement over the weekend:
On Thursday, Sam Houston faculty and students viewed a performance by Vital Dance Crew which has appeared at more than 2,000 schools nationwide. This program included a 30-minute dance performance followed by a 15-minute talk about the negative effects of bullying and the need for students to respect themselves and one another.
Our staff learned of the program through a promotion and recommendations that were posted from other school districts. This performance was vetted by Sam Houston’s administration. There was no intent to expose students to any content or conduct of concern to parents or guardians during Thursday’s performance. This event was part of the school’s efforts to promote kindness and discourage bullying.
After the performance, someone discovered provocative images and messages of concern posted by one of the performers on a private social media channel of his own, and it was brought to our attention immediately. I wanted you to know that Sam Houston’s administration was not aware of these images before this program was booked. All resources about the Vital Dance Crew program itself were positive and indicated that the program was appropriate for our school.
We are regretful that anything related to one of the performers negatively impacted the message that was intended. We are reviewing our procedures for vetting any future guest performances to ensure that programs are aligned with the mission and vision of Sam Houston Elementary and the Lebanon Special School District.
In a promotional video, Linehan states that Vital Dance Crew’s $795 program that combines dance, music, and motivational speeches allows students to relate to the group “as peers.” The group appeared in schools just last year under the name J-Line.
Two weeks ago, a school district in Missouri canceled the final two scheduled performances by the group after complaints from parents. Linehan allegedly told students to follow him on Instagram and Twitter and students were looking at inappropriate photos before the assembly was even over.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
10 Responses
This is funny. I hope it happens in lots of schools in Republican areas because it will wake people up and get them involved.
The Libs are sneaky and will lie and mislead you – do you understand now?
Put some conservatives on your “vetting” committee and no one whose hair is died blue.
Thanks for publishing articles like this – they help warn people.
4 years ago I was naive. In our school district they were talking about hiring DEI Coordinators. School Board positions were supposed to have been “non-partisan” but I figured out that 10 of the 12 Board Members were Liberals, even though our County is 65% Republicans. The people getting elected were misleading the voters and a lot of conservatives weren’t voting.
Don’t be naive and don’t be timid or apologetic – if you are the Libs will walk all over you.
The Lib activists are clever and will mislead you. Assume the worst, not the best. Why would these performers travel around the US to schools for a $795 fee? My guess is that they’re either sponsored by a Soros group or they are Tik Tok “influencers”.
Be sure there are conservatives on any “vetting committee” and check the reaction of schools in conservative areas, not NYC, San Fran, Chicago, Minneapolis, Ashville, etc.
If there was nothing inappropriate with the dance performance then why not let the parents know and be able to sit in so they know what their children are watching. And why are they performing at different schools under different names.
Don’t demand answers that will be outright lies or misleading. Gather up, file suit against everyone involved in this. Teacher, Administrators, even the custodian if he or she was present. Sue them as individuals so they have to use their own money to defend themselves. I’m not sure what the charges would be but a good lawyer would.
You all are missing the point altogether! Your children have already seen it and are curious to see more now and that is the whole point of their show without informing you in advance! Once the kids have seen it no permission is needed! That was the whole point… Job done!!!! That is the way this works. Nothing to see here until it is too late and the kids have already been indoctrinated!!!
Good point. Makes sense.
Whack a mole!!!!! Complain about drag queens and they find a way around it with some other kind of sexually inappropriate entertainment for your children. They are sick. The answer is pull your kids out of these mentally ill indoctrination centers. See how fast this stops when there are no children in attendance. No kids, no jobs for these “so called teachers.”
Heads should ROLE!! Pure trash.
There wasn’t anything “sexy” going on with the performance. It’s not up to the schools to PARENT YOUR KIDS. If you don’t want them searching for videos or social media accounts, then YOU need to watch your kids. YOU control your children outside of school. But let’s really question some things:
1) Why are your k-5 kids saying the word “sexy” and how do they know what “sexy” is? What are you teaching your kids?
2) Was it the performance that you people deem inappropriate, or was it because the lead dancer was gay?
3) The songs they played are POPULAR SONGS. Flowers? Really?
4) Again, WHY ARE YOUR KIDS SAYING “SEXY”? lmao. Even my nearly 16 year old SON doesn’t use the word sexy. You’re all full of it.
Hmm. We actually have the entire 45 minute show that was performed on tape and can 100% verify that no students were asked to follow any social media accounts at any time. The group was contracted to provide an engaging, high energy dance assembly that focused on respect and responsibility, which they did, as was evidenced by the positive feedback they received after the program. It is a shame that the bullying is now being turned on the people who are trying to eradicate it. I suggest this “news” organization check their facts before printing such slanderous and false articles.