I’ve always loved a good dance, despite quitting ballet in third grade because the teacher was “too mean.” I was the one who got a little too invested at prom and homecoming during high school. You should’ve heard me during “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” It was glorious. During my study halls at school, I would go into my AP Chemistry classroom and dance to Britney Spears. My teacher loved that, trust me. I love having fun and dancing has always been a great way for me to do that.
A few days before the unfortunate end of our Ireland trip, someone mentioned the idea of a “silent disco” on our last night in Dublin. For those of you who don’t know, a silent disco is just wearing noise-cancelling headphones that play music, and dancing to said music. It doesn’t sound that fun but it really is. To nobody’s surprise I was hooked on this idea. For the next few days, I would not shut up about “silent disco night!” Too much walking that day? It didn’t matter because it was almost silent disco night! I demanded that every program member attend, or else.
The night of silent disco came around and I won’t lie, I didn’t feel great. I had done far too much walking and far too little sleeping. Nevertheless, I persisted. I couldn’t let my dream pass me by. This was our last night in Dublin, so I spent the time leading up to the silent disco packing. Nothing gets you ready to dance like meticulously rolling clothing and stuffing it into a suitcase. Finally, it was time. I wore my favorite dress, because silent disco night deserved nothing but the best.
After a somewhat-sketchy walk to Whelan’s Pub, it was time. I entered the silent disco, put on my headphones, and… it was so boring. Nothing was happening, and nobody was dancing. The music was bad, to say the least. However, we stuck with it. It was our little Rebels & Revolutions (R&R) group, dancing our hearts out on a small and possibly very structurally unsound stage. The DJ, bless his heart, played many of our requests (but not without making us wait for them.) In true R&R form, we stayed until the very end. Other innocent bystanders made brief appearances, but either they weren’t nearly as good at having fun as we were or were scared away by our antics because they always scampered away rather quickly.
Needless to say, this was my favorite night of the trip. Nothing bonds people together like sweatily thrashing around to “22” by Taylor Swift. It is a night I will never forget. I hope it will also delight readers to know that our group is also planning on attending many more silent discos during our time in college. Watch out, UW-Madison. We’re pretty bad at the dancing part but boy, do we know how to have fun while doing it.