"Gotta dance!"
Event organizers at KC Country are hoping Fred Astaire's refrain from the movie "Singing in the Rain" soon will become the chorus for area families on weekends. Starting tomorrow the Kingdom City dance hall is hosting Family Fun nights from 7-10 p.m. every Friday.
According to Sandi Bernard with A-plus Advertising, the idea behind Family Fun Night - which will feature dancing, contests and lessons - is to bring children and parents closer together while at the same time helping them to be more active.
"It's not a drop the kids off thing, it's a come with your kids and have fun, get off the couch," Bernard said. "Several ideas spurred this: Exercise is something none of us get enough of; dancing is a good, easy, fun exercise and there's just nothing for the kids to do around here.
"It's just a way to bring families together and everyone gets some exercise and has a good time."
KC Country manager Randy Kleindienst said attendees will be doing "all kinds of dances - old and new."
"We hope we can vary it (from week to week)," Kleindienst said. "The basic theme will be the same, but one week it will be dancing to songs from the 1960s and another week it will be 80s line dances. We're open to suggestions, because this is new to us too."
"We'll be doing the Macarena, the Cupid Shuffle, the Electric Slide, the first one we're doing a tribute in memory of Michael Jackson because nobody can do his dance moves like he did," Bernard agreed. "It's just going to be fun. We'll also have a dance contest with a couple songs where kids can just freestyle."
Entry to Family Fun Night is $7 per person, although children ages 6 and younger get in free. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Concessions such as hot dogs and popcorn also will be available.
Kleindienst said he would encourage all area families to take advantage of this opportunity to do something different together.
"We think there's a need for it, and we thought it would be a good thing for the community," he said, noting KC Country has the largest dance floor in mid-Missouri. "It will give kids something nice to do with their families.
"It's an alternative to going and sitting in front of a movie screen - not that there's anything wrong with going to a movie - but this gets them up and moving."