Freaking At The Center of Rheem Theater Dance Issue

It's called Freaking, or Grinding, or sometimes Sex'n - and, yep, adults watching kids do it for the first time may have to blink a time or two to make sure they're seeing what they think they're seeing.

Freaking usually takes place in the center of a large dance floor, with couples pairing off to dance in a sexually suggestive manner while other kids form a wall around them to shield the activity on the dance floor from prying adult eyes. It's a part of the middle school social scene, has led to a few suspensions at the high school level and even sparked a couple of criminal investigations when young women have found themselves "Freaked" a little more aggressively than they would like.

Recently, the suggestive dancing is believed to have touched off a few jealous rivalries and, apparently, fisticuffs and hair-pulling between groups of girls at the .

"At first I thought they were guys because they were throwing hands and talking trash," said a 16-year-old boy who said he saw portions of the fighting before the groups were hauled outside and, eventually, maced by Moraga police officers. "It happens. Someone doesn't like the way someone else is dancing with their boyfriend, someone gets jealous..."

The teen, who attends high school locally, said girls often give "lap dances" to boys, grinding suggestively against a boy while he is seated or leaning against a wall. The two DJs in charge of music for the Teen Night Dance can be heard saying how they encourage girls to give lap dances at their events during a video they produced and released on YouTube recently.

Depending on who you talk with, it's all in good fun or the latest Devil's Dance incarnate.

"If you think it's an inappropriate venue for your children, don't grant them permission to attend," Dave Smith said in a comment to Patch's story on the fights at the theater. "Sounds like the security responded effectively to prevent any injury. No generation has appreciated the behavior, styles, etc. of teenagers. And yet another generation of parents go where their parents (and their parents' parents) went before!"

Other's weren't so sure.

"These things are free-for-alls as far as the grinding/freaking goes," wrote reader Mark Nelson. "I stuck my head in there at one of his other events, and my daughter hasn't been allowed to go back. These guys encourage 12-13 year old freshmen girls to 'dress sexy' and then turn a bunch of 18 year old thugs loose on them."

Plans to hold a "Tri-Cities" dance for students from each of Lamorinda's three high schools at the theater April 22 are proceeding, insiders told Lamorinda Patch, though steps have been taken to ensure there is no repeat performance of what has come to be known as the "April Fools Dance."

A Cinco de Mayo dance has been scheduled for May 6.