In the dark there is freedom and blindness to judgment. When music is added, there is only movement through which you express yourself innately, every preconceived dance move disappearing into the darkness.
This is the experience when attending No Lights, No Lycra (NLNL). This global phenomenon can be found in cities from New York to Los Angeles and even the United Kingdom. The program first came to Long Beach at the end of August, but due to lack of attendance, it was shut down after a month.
“We thought it would be a good spot for the event since it is across from the beach and walking distance from Second Street,” Loren Kalin, owner of the Long Beach Dance Centre, said. “We had to stop it because we weren’t drawing in enough people for whatever reason.”
The event would take place once a week until the sessions were halted.
Attendees would go to the Long Beach Dance Centre in Belmont Shore to dance in the dark as if they were dancing alone in their bedrooms to their favorite Michael Jackson song.
At NLNL, there aren’t any dress codes, instructors, dance routines, gender or age limit, or alcohol or drugs. The only space to fill is the creation of self-expression through dance. NLNL challenges the modern constraints of society and judgment isn’t welcome. Gender and sexuality become irrelevant, and freedom is expressed through physical movement.
While some students like the idea of judgment-free self-expression, there are some aspects of the program that they said would make them uncomfortable and might have led to NLNL’s being shut down.
“I would totally go; I think it would be fun. Sometimes people are afraid to express themselves and if there is no one judging, they might be willing to dance,” junior social work major Luis Herrera said. “But some people might feel uncomfortable if there is that one person who is groping people.”
NLNL got its start in Melbourne, Australia in 2009 when five dance students went to St. Marks Church Hall one night to dance together under the winter darkness. Within just a few months, the buzz traveled and the church hall was packed with people who shared the same yearning to dance freely, hidden within darkness.
After founders Alice Glenn and Heidi Barrett witnessed the extreme outcome, they decided to turn NLNL into a unique dance community, which now takes place around the world.
Although the Long Beach district near Second Street seems to be a fitting, liberal community for the event, some Cal State Long Beach students said they are not open to the idea.
“I wouldn’t want to go because I feel like that would be uncomfortable not knowing who is standing next to you,” junior public relations Heather Everett said. “I would feel really embarrassed.”
While the event has slowed and has been on hold for a couple months, the NLNL Long Beach Facebook page tells fans to stay tuned for the program’s potential return.