Mexican Youngsters Perform Nazi-Themed Cheer-Dance, Complete With Swastika And Seig Heil Salute

A troupe comprising of Mexican girls and boys performed a cheerleading dance sequence that has been deemed extremely insensitive. They performed a routine replete with Nazi flags and the swastika. One girl appeared to toss the infamous Nazi salute to the crowd, stunning them.

The performance that was quickly uploaded to multiple social media sites has gone viral and has drawn the ire of the internet, said event organizer Enrique Casas, who is protecting the identity of the dance troupe that consisted of two dozen girls and a boy. He categorically mentioned he didn’t want to identify the team for security reasons, primarily because the comments on social media sites “have been a little aggressive”,

“The comments have gone beyond freedom of expression … and have included direct insults against the girls.”

All the girls were quite young, aged 10 to 16 and had participated in the cheer-dance competition in the western city of Guadalajara at the end of May. The competition hadn’t mandated a theme, and hence, the groups were free to choose whatever theme they wished. Interestingly, there didn’t seem to have been any prior screening. Events like these typically mandate groups to submit their idea or concept much prior to the day of the show.

But it seems the lack of such measures resulted in the group performing in Nazi-era pseudo-military outfits. The group also waved large Nazi flags bearing the reverse swastika. To make the act convincing enough, the girls wore red armbands, camouflage dance outfits and marched onto the stage in military-style precision, which in alternate costumes, would have immediately won applause from the audience. Instead, the girls were greeted with stunned silence.

Many from the audience whisked out their cameras and filmed the dance sequence. These videos quickly started appearing on various social media sites, earning scathing remarks from viewers. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the girls who were blamed. The girls have maintained their innocence while the viewers chose to blame the team’s choreographer for the questionable routine. They even pointed questioning fingers at the event organizers for turning a blind eye to such an seemingly insensitive dance routine.

Meanwhile, the event organizer has defended the girls, mentioning it was the individual choice of the 192 teams that participated and “any art form can cause a certain discomfort.” However, he has admitted that the management is seriously considering putting some safeguards on the next competition “to avoid hurting people’s feelings.”

Though Mexico doesn’t have any significant neo-Nazi movements, the dance undoubtedly struck a nerve, just like Hitler-branded ice-cream from India did recently.

[Image Credit | YouTube Screen Grab]