Graphic by Addison Pavone
Dancing used to be a way to have a good time with friends, let loose and enjoy being in the moment. Somewhere along the way, that changed. The dance floor has become a place to stand around, sip a drink every couple of minutes and fend off randos trying to make a move. We’ve lost the plot on what makes a night out worth remembering.
Parties are for dancing—bad moves, good moves, moves that make no sense. Every move counts on the dance floor, yet lately we have stopped counting altogether (and I’m not talking about an eight-count). Forget partying in the USA and putting my hands up while they play my song; the reality is a crowd of blank faces scanning the room, huddled around phones, stiff as boards. So much is lost when the dance floor becomes a place to simply stand around: the vibes, the energy, all the fun.
This problem, however, isn’t necessarily the same around the world. Syracuse University junior Rachael Dubrow has studied abroad twice: first in Strasbourg, France, at the start of her freshman year, and then in Argentina and Chile during the fall of her sophomore year. From European techno music to Latin beats, she got a global party education.
“I feel like American culture is just very, very concerned with what the trend is supposed to be,” Dubrow said.
In contrast to her nights abroad, Dubrow noticed that people at SU have a harder time letting loose on the dance floor. The fraternities, the closest thing SU has to a conventional dance floor, are part of the problem. Their music prioritizes what’s trending over what gets people moving. Crowds get squeezed like sardines in the basement, and are more worried about spilling drinks from red Solo cups than dancing to Drake all night. In Santiago, Chile, Dubrow said, nightlife is built around getting down to the music and dancing with others.
“It was so freeing in South America because nobody cared about anything when you were on the dance floor. The same energy just does not translate in the U.S.,” Dubrow said.
Teens and young adults have a fear of being seen doing something others think is weird. No one wants to get caught being different, and that’s a destructive social factor because it makes individuals turn into copy-paste versions of each other. College’s modern standard of a good time prioritizes drinking over dancing. In other countries, where public intoxication is frowned upon, the goal of the night isn’t explicitly about getting drunk. College kids in the U.S. should open their minds to dancing like no one is watching, instead of constantly focusing on social conformity and following trends, especially when that trend means not letting yourself move freely. Stop giving in to the pressure to blend in with the crowd because—let’s face it—not grooving to the music isn’t cool. So just put down the damn phone, grab your friends and get your body moving.