Dance To Your Own Beat

Reported By: Ellaynah Brown

Photo Courtesy: @gfuactivities on Instagram

The sound of shoes scuffing across the floor, the humming of the air conditioning, and the spontaneous outbursts of an off-key song is all that can be heard on the dance floor at The Loudest Dance You’ve Never Heard. As people walked into the library both confused and intrigued, students joined their friends on the unconventional dance floor for one of Student Activities’ most beloved events. 

“Dance to your own beat” has taken on a literal meaning as students danced to music that could only be heard through the headphones they wore. Prior to coming to George Fox University (GFU), I had never heard of a “silent dance.” 

The concept of dancing in silence was mind-boggling to me. Personally, I thought the whole event would be an introvert’s nightmare, offering the perfect setting for an embarrassingly awkward exchange of silent dance-offs. The thing about events and dances is that a lot of the time your assumption about them will prove to be drastically different than what the experience ends up being. 

You have the ability to make any event fun and that was evident at this dance. If you went in expecting it to be awkward, then you probably ended up along the wall with the other people who were thinking too much to just let go and have fun. However, if you went with the expectation of a new experience or no expectation at all, then you were probably among the large group of students who sang their hearts out and formed a mosh pit, as you would expect from any typical dance. 

Joined together under the strobe lights were students dancing to the music in their headphones, courtesy of DJ Eps, transforming a mere library into the perfect dance floor. With the music turned up, it was almost like you were tuning out the silence and focusing on the dance party in your head. 

While this event may not be everyone’s beat, it surely offers the perfect opportunity for students to dance without giving a care about what is going on around them. So, the lesson learned here is two-fold: You don’t always have to have expectations, and sometimes you’re not supposed to think about it too much. Dance to your own beat and don’t worry about who is watching.