Why was dancing banned in the movie Footloose?

Answer 1

Actually drugs and alcohol became associated with the dancing and the preacher's son and a couple others seniors died in a car accident. Bomont, being the small country town it is, was religious and of course looked to the preacher for guidance. The preacher got way overprotective and motioned to ban public dancing because he thought it was destructive and lead to irrational behavior. Ren (Kevin Bacon) was a city boy and he was pursuing the preacher's daughter which lead her to kinda get out of her rebellious behavior, that she used as a coping mechanism at the loss of her brother, which also lead her to finally confront her father (the preacher) on his decision to outlaw public dancing. This also led to a revelation for the preacher to understand the outrageousness of his decision but he isn't ready to abolish the law, but with a very intimate talk with Ren, the preacher realizes his mistake and gives Ren the permission to take the Ariel (preacher's daughter) to the senior dance he prepared.