POUND, Va. — It's Saturday night, and Helen Bolling is shimmying in the corner booth of the Golden Pine restaurant. A usually quiet, sparrow of a woman, the 65-year-old cups her hands and screams over the loud speakers for the disc jockey to play “Cotton-Eyed Joe.”

        “I love fast dances,” says Ms. Bolling. This is an especially daring act in Pound, a coal mining town of about 1,000 people 10 miles from the Kentucky state line.

        Public dancing is illegal without a permit.

        The Town Council decided to regulate public dancing last year to control boozing, fights and other “improper” behavior associated with public dance halls.

        The ordinance, which carries a maximum penalty of a $500 fine, has been applauded by church leaders who consider dancing a sin.

        “I can never see a time when dancing can be approved of, espe cially with people who are not married,” said Tim Shepherd, an evangelist for the Church of Christ in Pound. “Dancing is one of those things that entices. It imitates sexual contact.”

        So far, no one has been ticketed in Pound for dancing. But that could change soon. The police department and the town government have been talking about what to do with the Golden Pine and its owner, Bill Elam, who refuses to apply for a permit.

        Mr. Elam probably will get a court summons, said town attorney Gary Gilliam.

        Mr. Elam, 48, has been a thorn in the town's side ever since he bought the Golden Pine in 1996. “I won't be run off,” said Mr. Elam.When he first arrived, dancing was out of the question. An 18- year-old ordinance forbade town leaders from issuing dance permits “to anyone who is not a proper person, nor to a person who is not a person of good moral character.”

        So Mr. Elam settled with just cranking up the stereo and inviting bands to come play. He soon realized, though, that music and dance were inseparable.

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