dancing in public with your headphones on

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i've never seen gillian wearing's "dancing in peckham" (picture below), and i'd be pretty surprised if i saw someone dancing like that in the street. on the other hand i'm increasingly prone to dancing to the music on my discman when there aren't many people around; for example, i was walking home (sober) fairly late last night listening to the pet shop boys' "go west", and found myself doing an extravagent (and doubtless ludicrously camp) dance down the road. i only walked (danced!) past a couple of people, who gave me rather odd looks, but there were still quite a lot of cars on the road. i'm also having trouble fighting off urges to raise my hands in the air when i get into college in the mornings to the sound of "where is my mind?", which happens more days than not (i walk into college, so always arrive at the same point in any cd, and i'm still in a pixies phase at the moment).

umm, does anyone else dance to music that only they can hear? or have any funny stories about seeing other people doing so?
http://www.drake.edu/swiss/challenge2/gillian2.jpg

― toby (tsg20), Sunday, 6 October 2002 15:41 (twenty-three years ago)

I used to dance in a muted way (not as I would in a club, certainly) while listening to the walkman outside work, while having a fag. People would quite often notice and smile. I don't smoke now, but I still do it occasionally, on tubes or waiting on platforms, for instance. I'm sure it looks pretty funny.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 6 October 2002 15:53 (twenty-three years ago)

thye coolest is when they're not wearing a walkman -

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Sunday, 6 October 2002 16:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Two occasions spring to mind, in July I'd just come back to Dublin after being in London, went to see Lottie DJ and had an amazing time seeing my friends again and interviewing her. So I was on the way home and I had Jay-Z unplugged in my discman, I stuck on Big Pimping and I remember dancing down the centre of the road near my house. Noone saw.

Another time I was at Joey Negro and I had X-Press 2 in my discman, the lights came on and I was waiting for my coat so I stuck it on, I was still flying a bit and I remember dancing away to it, I didn't really care who was watching, I was loving it. That same night I was on the bus home nodding my head and smiling to myself when I opened my eyes to find this guy and his girlfriend just laughing at me. Not maliciously laughing though, it was pretty cool.

― Ronan (Ronan), Sunday, 6 October 2002 16:03 (twenty-three years ago)

can never listen to music when i'm out of the house. too many distractions.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 6 October 2002 16:06 (twenty-three years ago)

People smiling to themselves = unteaseable!

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Sunday, 6 October 2002 16:29 (twenty-three years ago)

I find that the reactions I get are never malicious - I doubt that they are significant of great respect, but they seem either pleased or amused. I guess seeing a middle-aged man in a suit doing this looks more amusing than seeing a young person in casual dress.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Sunday, 6 October 2002 17:39 (twenty-three years ago)

In my neck of the woods if your not dancing when you walk down the street everyone thinks you are the werido

― brg30 (brg30), Sunday, 6 October 2002 18:03 (twenty-three years ago)

Westeren,MA where everyday is a Dead Show, Maannn

― brg30 (brg30), Sunday, 6 October 2002 18:03 (twenty-three years ago)

hippy

― Dave M. (rotten03), Sunday, 6 October 2002 18:34 (twenty-three years ago)

I tend to bop around to Black Metal playing in my head. Just two days ago I pulled a mad gurning fit while listening to Children Of Bodom. Right in my local Town Centre too. People gave me amazed & amused looks. I don't give a flying philadelphian stereophonic fuck.

― Lek Dukagjin, Sunday, 6 October 2002 19:45 (twenty-three years ago)

I guess I dance in my car sometimes. But not like that girl in the car ad with the Dirty Vegas song. Cause I'm usually driving, too.

― Arthur (Arthur), Sunday, 6 October 2002 20:05 (twenty-three years ago)

i try not to dance when i've got my headphones on. it helps to just walk in time to the music, although probbly you'd still look like a boob.

― di smith (lucylurex), Sunday, 6 October 2002 21:20 (twenty-three years ago)

i do it a lot and i get away with it cause i have my son in my arms so we are dancing together, without music haha.
people either smile or ignore, depending on their state of mind i guess.

― donna (donna), Sunday, 6 October 2002 21:26 (twenty-three years ago)

Donna, that's really cute.

― Arthur (Arthur), Monday, 7 October 2002 01:27 (twenty-three years ago)

There's a little stretch from the tram stop to my house which people rarely walk along, so I often find myself composing a little drum and bass tune in my head, beatboxing over imagined synth lines, etc. That's about as close to dancing as I'll ever get.

― Andrew (enneff), Monday, 7 October 2002 02:29 (twenty-three years ago)

three months pass...

i dance around like fucking madness to and from school, pretty much every day. not the whole way, cause then i'm sure i'd catch the attention of some friendly people with a new white coat [just for me! thanks!! i love the buckles, so chic...] - but definitely enough to entertain myself...drumming in the air, some light restrained guitaring sometimes, basically anything to pretend how cool it would be if i really played an instrument. god forbid if i have to stop at a corner...i just bounce and nod my head to the beats, which i'm sure looks completele and utterly ridiculous. and skipping is a must. i've never had anyone really freak out and stare at me, or anyone laugh at me either, come to think of it. at least not right in my face. it's just that if i'm having a good day, dancing to my headphones only makes the day that much more fun.

― PMK (PMK), Tuesday, 4 February 2003 03:43 (twenty-two years ago)

two years pass...

I remember doing this a couple of times in Manc, only there were no headphones. Music of the sole. I have been practicing my Astaire/Kelly footwork and hand gestures while walking, ever since I got the iPod, matching my movements to those in the music. Top fun, but all done very subtly so I don't attract daggers from cynical London types. When listening to something particularly danceable ie MJ, JJ, Prince, Jaxx or assorted pop, the body almost takes over and I just manage to prevent myself skipping and twirling down the road, while yesterday, sitting in Sloane Square and tapping and shuffling my feet to the rhythms of Flipper's Guitar's "Madchester album", I became engrossed in a fantasy in which myself and some friends laid a mat out on the square, I danced like crazy and the firend filmed all, and then we just packed up and left. Marianna has suggested I use public dancing as an avenue to pick up women, but this is London! They'd intro rape whistles!

― BARMS, Tuesday, 21 June 2005 08:53 (twenty years ago)

six years pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VVEXxTZnjI&feature=related

― Lophar Andreusz DeLeone (admrl), Saturday, 20 August 2011 15:56 (fourteen years ago)

/\/\/\ This is like ALL my students over the last year. They would either be sitting in class with headphones on or literally playing shuffle music out of their tinny phone speakers DURING class.

― Lophar Andreusz DeLeone (admrl), Saturday, 20 August 2011 15:58 (fourteen years ago)

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