This visit to Monski Mouse Baby Disco was originally planned as an outing for my daughter J and her friend E. Both are three years of age and have recently started attending ballet classes and hence, have a developing awareness of structured dance. The event is aimed at children from 0-5 years of age and their accompanying parents. It runs for 45 minutes and the cost is £8 per person, irrespective of age.
I elected to treat this trip as a field visit for I wanted to observe the dance behaviour of adults accompanying their young children at a dance event. E and J have never attended a disco before and I am also curious to see how they will behave. Apart from the two children, my companions were E's mother and 'Harry', a male in his forties who prefers to remain anonymous.
The website publicity describes the event as follows:
Why toddle when you can dance, dance, dance! Parents and under 5s are let loose on the dance floor in this friendliest of discos. DJ Monski Mouse and her team bring high energy smiling to the Spiegeltent, spinning retro hits and funky nursery rhymes. Get your disco-dancing-booties on!
Due to the large number of underage children attending this event and the ethical implications of using their images, I try to take footage containing only our immediate party who have given me their consent prior to the event.
Due to the large number of underage children attending this event and the ethical implications of using their images, I try to take footage containing only our immediate party who have given me their consent prior to the event.
Monski Mouse's Baby Disco Dance Hall is part of the London Wonderground Festival which has been held adjacent to the Southbank Centre in London the last few years from May to September.
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| London Wonderground advertising. Courtesy of http://www.dancewearcentral.co.uk/ |
The site is built each year for the festival and consists of a spiegeltent as well as custom built bars, seating areas, a wonder ground stage, and has the feel of a mini festival site. The interior of the spiegeltent looks something like this:
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| Photo courtesy of http://www.annagreenwood.co.uk/ |
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| The entrance to the Spiegeltent |
When the tent opens, we step inside to be greeted by two dancing adults; male and female dressed in 1950s style retro fashion who smile and wave as they usher us in. The Bee Gees song, You Should be Dancing, is playing and as we move further into the tent, I can see that DJ Monski Mouse is standing atop a raised DJ podium in the middle of the tent. She looks exactly as she does in the promotional pictures apart from the fact that she also looks six months pregnant. She is smiling and beckoning us to the dance floor encircling the podium.
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| Monski Mouse on her flyer advertising the event Courtesy of http://www.monskimouse.com/ |
As parents and children enter, many of the children (who can walk) rush straight onto the dance floor and start dancing to the music. Their excitement is palpable. I observe how this lack of reserve is markedly different to a group of adults at a social dance event where a certain amount of 'warming up' is usually required before anyone will dance. There is no warming up needed here, the parents following their children's' lead as they dance alongside them immediately upon entering. Children that cannot walk seem to gravitate to the dance floor by looking at it or through gesture or crawling. Parents with non-walking children make themselves at home amongst the floor cushions or seated booths within the tent. There is a sense of excitement, fun and space. The tent is spacious and lit in the manner of a night club with flashing coloured lights overhead. I count approximately 60 adults and 70 children in attendance, yet due to the size of the tent there is ample space. I take a quick head count of male parents compared to females in attendance and the ratio is about 10% male.
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| Monski Mouse talking from her DJ podium |
Over the next 45 minutes, Monski Mouse and her two dancers lead the group into dancing and dancing led activities; playing a range of popular dance tunes such as Beyoncé's Single Ladies as well as nursery rhymes. They encourage parents and children to act out scenarios such as pretending to be cats during the song Lovecats by The Cure. Or morphing into rabbits when the Sleeping Bunnies nursery rhyme is played. At one point, the female dancer leads everyone into a conga line. It is J and E's first time in a conga line but like all the other kids, they accept this turn of events unreservedly and smile and wave as they conga along the perimeter of the venue. Many of the parents are dancing and joining in with the activities. There does not seem to be any delineation between the actions of the children and that of their parents. There is a lack of self consciousness in both age groups.
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| J&E at their first disco dance event |
Throughout the short duration of the event, I alternate between observing on the sidelines, dancing with the children and trying to record some visual footage. The dancing and behaviour of the parents is not unusual to me as I have witnessed parents singing and dancing with their children at other parent and children events. I know that adults who may normally feel self conscious singing or dancing in public do not seem to feel this when in the company of their own children.
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| Parents turn willingly into cats on the dancefloor |
What did strike me particularly was the image of the children rushing excitedly onto the dance floor when first entering the tent followed closely by their parents. Both parties got straight down to the business of dancing without any hesitation. It's an image I think will linger long in my mind. A reminder of the joy and excitement of dancing to music and the lack of a reason to delay it.
* Questionnaire: Research Participants in Fieldwork
1) Name:
ANONYMOUS. 'HARRY.'
2) Age:
42
3) Location:
LONDON
4) Profession:
ACCOUNTANT
5) Are you trained in any style of dance? If so, what was the period of training, e.g. 12 years in jazz, one off workshop in salsa:
NO
6) Do you regularly partake in any kind of dance activity in your daily life? e.g. Zumba classes, clubbing and so on:
NO
7) How did you feel prior to taking part in this dance research event? What were your
expectations?:
LOOKING FORWARD TO IT. ENJOY DANCING WITH MY CHILD AND MEETING FRIENDS
8) Did you feel comfortable dancing at the event? Why? Why not?:
YES, WHERE CHILDREN ARE INVOLVED PARENTS GET A FREE PASS. SO ALMOST ANY BEHAVIOUR TO AMUSE THE CHILDREN IS APPLAUDED. ALSO MOST PEOPLE ARE SO ENTHRALLED BY LOOKING AT THEIR OWN KIDS THEY HAVE NO INTEREST IN ANYONE ELSE
9) Please feedback your thoughts about the following at the dance event you attended:
The venue:
BIG TENT. LOTS OF SPACE. WOULD ALSO BE GOOD FOR A ROLLER DERBY.
The music:
ALL WELL KNOWN STUFF THAT KIDS LIKED, WHICH IN TURN I LIKED.
The other people at the event:
GOOD MIX OF KIDS AND PARENTS.
The clothing worn at the event:
DIDN’T NOTICE THE KIDS. PARENTS WERE DRESSED BY DEBENHAMS
The atmosphere:
VERY GOOD, I SELDOM SAW SOMEONE WHO DIDN'T HAVE A BIG GRIN ON THEIR FACE. KIDS WERE HAPPY AND INDEPENDENTLY DANCING. WHICH LEADS TO HAPPY PARENT.
The dancing that happened at the event:
A LOT OF JUMPING. PARENTS ALSO LET LOOSE. SAW AN ELVIS WINDMILL AND AT LEAST ONE RUNNING MAN
The timing of the event (Was it too early? Did it go on for too long?):
RIGHT LENGTH. ANY LONGER AND THE KIDS WOULD OF STARTED FADING.
The cost:
NOMINAL
10) How would you describe the way you danced at the event?:
MIDDLE AGED DAD
11) Would you attend this event again? Why ? Why not?:
YES. AS LONG AS MY CHILD ENJOYS IT SO WOULD I
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