The prudes in Neenah have banned dancing.

Specifically, Mayor Dean Kaufert, reported WLUK-TV earlier this week:

You can see the signs all over Neenah: on lawns, at gas stations, local businesses…they say “Neenah Bans Dancing.”

“I don’t know what it’s all about. They’ve been there for about a week and I didn’t know what it was!” exclaimed Neenah resident Wayne Malchow.

“Neenah bans dancing?! No, Neenah’s pretty progressive, right?” asked resident Seamus Wedge.

“I have no idea what’s going on. I heard it’s coming from the mayor?” asked Neenah High School senior Lexie Zehner.

Indeed it is.

“We know the evils and the hazards of young people and dancing!” said Neenah Mayor Dean Kaufert.

Kaufert told FOX 11 he plans to issue a proclamation Wednesday banning all dancing in Neenah. …

“I don’t think it’s fair to make us not be able to express ourselves in this art form,” said Zehner.

Wait! There’s more!

“One of the parents came up with the idea to try and create a buzz,” said Kaufert, revealing the signs and the proclamation are a cheeky way of marketing Footloose for the high school.

“If this creates a buzz and creates interest in it and puts more people in the seats, it’s gonna be well worth it,” Kaufert explained.

And not to fear, Kaufert told us if enough people attend the play, “we will consider lifting the ban and allowing dancing back in Neenah,” he said, laughing.

Uproxx reports:

Enough dumb stuff happens on a daily basis, especially in politics, that it’s not unreasonable to believe that a small town’s mayor could be a big enough A-hole to propose a ban on dancing. After all, the uptight adults of the movie Footloose had things going pretty well in Bomont until that no-good Ren McCormack showed up and got all of the girls pregnant with his big city dance moves. So when Dean Kaufert, the new mayor of Neenah, Wisconsin, started making news yesterday over his proposal to ban dancing in that town that I’ve never heard of, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that he could have been yet another seriously insane old doofus trying to ruin the fun for everyone.

Instead, it turns out that he’s a pretty cool dude just trying to rile up some viral support for the teens of Neenah High School. …

Sure, it’s all fun and laughs right now, but wait until the school’s successful performance turns the whole town into one big episode of Glee. Be careful with what you wish for, Mayor Kaufert.

Rev. Shaw Moore was unavailable for comment.