Dan L Posted February 6, 2003 Share Posted February 6, 2003 Just read through this for a sec... Essentialy what I'm asking here is "is it really necessary to ban dancing in pubs".. I mean, [i]come on[/i].. Don't the british government have far better things to do with their time than to decide that "rhythmic movement" should be disallowed without the proper license?.. I think it's fairly obvious where I stand on the matter.. I find it moronic and more restrictive than could possibly be necessary.. [quote] [url]http://www.musiciansunion.org.uk/articles/two_in_a_bar16.shtml[/url] [b]Pubs fined over dancing drinkers By Adam Blenford, Evening Standard 22 November 2002[/b] Each week thousands of drinkers flock to the West End's two huge Pitcher and Piano pubs as part of a night out in London. In these smart modern premises, music and drinking go hand in hand. But now the pubs' owners have been fined £5,000 after small groups of customers were spotted dancing - in breach of licensing laws which ban "rhythmic moving". Westminster council inspectors took the Pitcher and Piano to task after they spotted a total of 20 people enjoying themselves a little too much on three occasions. The first time, they caught four people dancing. They returned later that day to catch five people in the act. On another occasion, 11 drinkers were spotted indulging in what the council described as "rhythmic moving". Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries, which runs the central London's two Pitcher and Piano pubs on William IV Street off the Strand and Dean Street in Soho, insists that signs on the walls at the pubs warn customers that dancing is banned. Bar staff are also instructed to turn the music down if they spot a rhythmic outbreak. But the inspectors decided that patrons of the Pitcher and Piano were routinely breaking the terms of the pub's licence, which does not allow dancing. Wolverhampton and Dudley pleaded guilty at a London magistrates court and were fined £2,500 for each offence, plus costs of £1,600. Derek Andrews, Wolverhampton and Dudley's managed house boss, said: "We have spent ages trying to stop people dancing. We have signs up everywhere, managers instruct customers, we turn the music down, rearrange the furniture and so on. "On a personal note, I would like to say that, to the best of my knowledge, spontaneous dancing is not in the top 10 list of great social ills of our time." Westminster council has also served two written warnings to another pub in Wardour Street about people found "swaying". Dancing is only allowed if premises have been granted a public entertainment licence - and precisely what this means was spelt out by Bob Currie, Westminster's director of the community protection department, in a letter quoted in The Publican. "Dancing could be described as the rhythmic moving of the legs, arms and body usually changing positions within the floor space available and whether or not accompanied by musical support." Westminster council further explained today: "Premises providing music and dancing are required as a matter of law to obtain a licence. "For this reason our inspectors visit premises. We need to observe whether a premises is encouraging entertainment and encouraging people to dance. The two premises of Pitcher and Piano were advised that they were encouraging music and dancing and that they should apply for a licence, they did not." However, the prosecution is likely to confuse drinkers and anger publicans, coming as the Government pushes through plans to and allow pubs to open for 24 hours a day. Westminster council have opposed the extension of licensing laws, complaining that longer opening hours will attract more noise and crime to central London.[/quote] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kei Posted February 6, 2003 Share Posted February 6, 2003 [color=royalblue]What in the hell.... That's got to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Who actually bans [i]dancing[/i]? I mean, I can understand if the people are really drunk and going around disturbing other patrons and wrecking things, but not just outright banning for the hell of it. But if they need this "entertainment license" in order to avoid fines, why don't they just get it? I mean, they may have the signs and all the other warnings up and things, but you have to take the fact that you have people who are drinking and doing other things that hinder judgement into account. They should just go ahead and legalize it and make it a lot easier on everyone.[/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted February 6, 2003 Share Posted February 6, 2003 [color=#808080]This sounds like one of those weird early 20th century laws that are still on the books, but that nobody enforces. There is some law for the city of Brighton in my state, which says that ladies shall not wear swimsuits above their ankles or something...it's really funny. It's one of those odd laws that is still on the books (I think it first came into practice in the late 1890's). Of course, it isn't applied today. Nobody has [i]ever[/i] been charged under that ordinance, to my knowledge; even back in the day when it was created. Still, you know how it is...the city councils are too lazy to strike these laws from the books (probably afraid it'll cost them too much money or something -_-). Oh well...I hope the situation in London is changed. Dancing and pubs go together...stopping people from dancing is just insane.[/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayrok Posted February 6, 2003 Share Posted February 6, 2003 I've seen it all now. That's just ludicrous. I mean, it's ridicolous to ban dancing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCBaggee Posted February 6, 2003 Share Posted February 6, 2003 [color=red]Geez..."rhythmic moving"? Surely they could come up with a better term than that... --Chris[/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Posted February 6, 2003 Share Posted February 6, 2003 [b][color=003399]Eheh, I live in the area of Westminster. There is a pub right next to my house that needed one of those 'dancing licenses' so I kind of knew about this, but I thought it was an insurance problem, as people could get drunk and hurt themselves in a packed pub. This seems to be another one of those insane British laws that has been around for a long time and has been re-inforced recently. I think I might go bug the council about it. :p[/b][/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treton_noir Posted February 6, 2003 Share Posted February 6, 2003 im not defending the decision, only trying to understand... this might be to prevent pub patrons from getting too excited or wild in their drunkeness and to prevent fights or riots or something. (i dont know much about, so im pretending like i do. maybe.maybe not. lol :) ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subversive Posted February 6, 2003 Share Posted February 6, 2003 OMG...at first I thought this was a bad joke, but with all the support and facts and all, WOW! The British Law Enforcement is quite funny, Maybe Monty Python's Flying Circus was formerly law enforcement. :D This is completely stupid, and goes back to those people who file a law suit (or however you spell it) on nothing but a half-baked toddler of an idea. How I loathe them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PiroMunkie Posted February 6, 2003 Share Posted February 6, 2003 [color=indigo][size=1]Heh heh, amusing. I would go there and start moshing, lol. It is movement, yes; but it is certainly [i]not[/i] rythmic. Though, that would probably fall under disorderly conduct or something like that. Perhaps a simpler protest would be to grab a partner and waltz through the streets. :p This law is completely absurd, and should really be put away with.[/color][/size][quote][i]Originally posted by JCBaggee[/i] [b][color=red]Geez..."rhythmic moving"? Surely they could come up with a better term than that...[/color][/b][/quote][color=indigo][size=1]In their eyes, it is a really good term. They want to keep it really general. You cannot really specifically define "rythmic movement", and being that they are the government they can get away with saying bobbing your head up and down is "rythmic movement".[/color][/size] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manic Webb Posted February 6, 2003 Share Posted February 6, 2003 SWEET HEAVEN ABOVE, NOT DANCING!! :eek: Truly, dancing is the ultimate form of evil. Seriously, that's one of the craziest laws I've ever read. It seemed a little much to fine people for dancing, but when a pub has to be reported for customers "swaying" that gets to be ridiculous. I'll remember this if I ever take a trip to the U.K. and visit a pub. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genkai Posted February 6, 2003 Share Posted February 6, 2003 So.. Me bopping my head th the soothing sounds of Utada Hikaru could get me in trouble..? Or how about headbanging to Rammstein? Any of this taking place in a pub?? Grr. I think anything banning something involving the arts is wrong... But, it happens U.U Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desbreko Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 [color=indigo]"Walk without rhythm, and you won't attract the worm." I think that quote is from one of the Dune books... I still need to read them... But yeah, if it's "rhythmic moving" that they've banned, people should just dance without rhythm. Then they'd probably ban "random moving," lol. And besides, how much rhythm can a group of drunk people have? :p[/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan L Posted February 7, 2003 Author Share Posted February 7, 2003 heh.. we do have some crazy laws.. apparently you're not allowed to eat mince pies on Christmas day or something stupid like that o_O.. but I've never seen that one even noticed.. I think the dancing law only applies to London though.. I've never seen any "no dancing" signs around here.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subversive Posted February 7, 2003 Share Posted February 7, 2003 [QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Deus Ex Machina [/i] [B]I think the dancing law only applies to London though.. I've never seen any "no dancing" signs around here.. [/B][/QUOTE] You should organize a rave right outside the city! Invite everyone, that would be soo coool and rebelous! :wigout: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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