Monday, October 7, 2013

No Lights, No Lycra

Do you believe you were a dancer in another life? Do you find yourself dancing only when no one is around? Do you go out to the bars and end up just wanting to dance in your own corner? If you answered yes and haven't heard of the "No Lights, No Lycra" movement - then you are truly missing out.

No Lights, No Lycra was started in Melbourne just four years ago and has grown into an weekly sober dance party held around the world. Check out the site to see if your city hosts a dance in the dark event.

I've gone twice now and both times were liberating, sweaty, and funky. I had a chance to showcase my bold disco, hip-hop, and latin amateur moves to an audience that couldn't see me.

On Wednesday nights, the event is held in a large church basement in North Fitzroy (an area comparable to the Brooklyn of New York). If it weren't for the large fleet of fixies and cruisers parked outside - I wouldn't have guessed I was in the right place. I wandered to the back of the building, towards the sound of the bass, and walked through the double doors of an almost pitch-black room. You can't see faces, but there are dim silhouettes of at least 100 people jumping around. Some silhouettes are doing the usual club-night sway, other silhouettes are boogeying down and getting a little weird. There are almost an equal amount of guys and girls - no one is really dancing with each other, but rather, doing their own dance amongst each other.

On Monday nights, it's held at a warehouse cafe in the central business district. The room is brighter (it's held earlier), the crowd is much smaller but a bit more diverse (I'm assuming more 9-5ers are here), but the music is just as diverse. Dancing your cares away is a great pick-me-up from the back-to-work Monday blues. I love that there's a place to go for an hour at a time to just dance your stress away. I'll definitely be returning to NLNL. 


1 comment:

  1. I'm definitely going to try to check one of these out in the states. I always dance by myself, but need more space. le sigh

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