Hobart’s waterfront and city streets turned into an impromptu dance floor last weekend as a local tour operator trialled what’s believed to be the city’s first silent disco walking tour.
Off The Leash Tours owner Alicia Johns said she took a group of friends through the streets wearing wireless headphones and dancing to a curated soundtrack for 60 minutes as a test run before the public launch of the new tour this weekend.
Johns said most of her friends who took part were introverts and initially reluctant, but it didn’t take long for them to let loose.
“After the first song, inhibitions have gone,” she told Pulse.
“You just forget that [only] you hear the music and you’re dancing in public.”
She said passers-by were initially confused but quickly warmed to the spectacle.
“They were kind of like, ‘What’s going on?’ And then they were kind of embracing it,” she said.
“You could just see smiles come across their face.”
A group of people outside Customs House joined in during a rendition of YMCA, and a stranger was handed a set of headphones and danced along for a few minutes.
Johns said highlights included head banging to Bohemian Rhapsody outside Muir’s and performing a full kick line on the steps of the Supreme Court to Sweet Caroline.
She described the experience as surprisingly therapeutic.
“You literally just don’t care that you are in the middle of a street, no one else is hearing the music, and you’re just dancing,” she said.
“It kind of brings people together and it’s something to do on a really cold night.”
She said even her most reserved friends wanted to do it again, which she found validating.
“I love this idea, but I don’t know if anyone else will love this idea,” she said.
“The world’s crazy and we kind of just need to step out of it for a little bit just to kind of reset ourselves.”
The first public tour launches this Saturday, with more sessions planned throughout the Dark Mofo period.
