North Carolina- A dirty dancer who was banned from a North Carolina night spot is “not a performer in any meaningful sense,” the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled, denying her claim that the First Amendment protects her gyrations.

Rebecca Willis, 60, was “simply dancing for her own enjoyment” on Friday nights in a former railroad depot leased by the town of Marshall, N.C., the ruling said, and purely social or recreational dancing is not “constitutionally protected expressive activity.”

The court, however, has not kept America completely safe from Willis’ dancing. Reversing summary dismissal of her equal protection claim, it found she should have an “opportunity to demonstrate that others situated similarly in this regard were not treated similarly.”

After receiving complaints about “sexually provocative” gyrations, performed in “very short,” underwear-exposing skirts, town officials barred Willis from the Marshall Depot for “inappropriate behavior.” She claimed to be no more provocative than Elvis Presley.

A magistrate judge found that the town violated her First Amendment rights. But the 4th Circuit cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld a ban on admitting persons over 18 to a dance hall.

Although Dallas v. Stanglin, 490 U.S. 19 (1989), “did not expressly state that recreational dancing was not protected by the First Amendment,” it “effectively closes the door” to Willis’ claim, Circuit Judge William B. Traxler wrote.

As for the equal protection claim, the magistrate wondered why the town did not similarly punish the male dance partner with whom Willis allegedly simulated sex on the dance floor. “Does he get to go back to the Depot club because he was led into sin by this brazen hussy?” he asked in May 2003.