Sweden’s sweet moves create lunch time phenomenon

TORONTO – A handful of Sweden’s professionals have created a new way to blow off steam during office hours – by hitting the dance floor instead of the lunch room.
 
They call it “Lunch Beat,” a fad that originated in Stockholm and is taking the rest of Europe by storm.

These hour-long dance parties are designed to feel just like a club; complete with DJs, booming club music and sweaty dance partners, the only thing missing is the booze.

Instead of cocktails, Lunch Beat parties offer a work-day friendly selection of sandwiches and water to keep dancers hydrated.

The first Lunch Beat party was held in June 2010 in an underground parking lot in Stockholm. The event only attracted 14 people, but quickly spread into a Swedish phenomenon, which now attracts hundreds of anxious dancers once a month in the nation’s capital.

Molly Ränge, a 28-year-old concept developer, created Lunch Beat with the idea that one hour of day dancing would result in playfulness and participation within the workplace. 

As it turns out, Ränge was right; a little dancing is just what the doctor ordered for tired employees. Hundreds of people have developed their own lunch-break-boogie sessions in Europe and is the fad is now popping up internationally in other countries, such as India.

Organizers of Dance Beat encourage people to get their daily dose of dance with a “start up” guide to help create your own local operation. Even the organization’s “Fight Club” like manifesto gives tips to starting your own Dance Beat (First rule: If it’s your first lunch at Lunch Beat, you have to dance. Second rule: If it’s your second, third or fourth time lunch at Lunch Beat, you have to dance.).

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