A Dance Team coach in central Wisconsin has been fired, for using a routine with Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” in the background.
Lisa Jolin was let go in September, after an edited version of the song was used during a dance routine at Marshfield High School’s first football game of the season August 23rd. The incident occured just two nights before Thicke performed the song while Miley Cyrus did a controversial dance at the MTV Video Music Awards. Marshfield School Superintendent Peg Geegan said in a statement that “action was taken based on appropriate reasons which followed district protocol.”
That doesn’t satisfy students and parents, who are defending Jolin, saying she brought a measure of respectability to the team. Kathy Hennick, whose daughter Leah is team captain, says, “I didn’t see it as egregious because she edited the music.” Leah is now coaching the team, which includes choosing music and doing the choreography for upcoming routines.
Jolin, meanwhile, suspects phone calls from just a few concerned parents cost her the job. In her words, “I think if three to five people called, the district should have backed me up. If it was 250 people, then yeah, they had to fire me.”
The district has re-posted the job in the meantime, but there has been no interest so far.
Mike Warren, WDLB