A lunch break or a lunch dance?

The event which arrived in Finland from Sweden, invites workers at the daily grind to dance for an hour in the middle of their work day. When leaving, everyone will be handed a lunch bag, yet during the actual Lunch Beat it would probably not be polite to sit down and eat.

In times past, the employee sitting hunched over the computer would have moved to the downstairs restaurant around midday. Now there is a happy alternative – to be invigorated at a lunch time dance.The lunch disco is an alternative to a traditional lunch break, and a way to relax.

“Dancing is suitable for all those wishing to discharge their energy in the middle of the day, to acquire some extra oomph for the week, to meet new and old friends,” Demos Helsinki researcher Simo Vassinen explains. He was the one to bring the lunch time dance from Sweden to Finland.

Vassinen hopes that people could take control of their work day through dance. He believes that Lunch Beat is part of a mental continuity where any moment could be suitable for doing something fun with others.

In its home country Sweden, the first Lunch Beat was danced in a garage in Stockholm. Later, the lunch time dancers took over an entire cellar in the Royal Palace.

“Lunch Beat is not intended to remain merely a trendy youth phenomenon, but to develop into a wider phenomenon among workers at lunchtime.”

Vassinen believes that these lunch dances should promote a relaxed atmosphere.

Finnish work culture embraced the first lunch disco with open arms. The event organised for Friday 27 January was fully booked in a couple of hours, and the relaxed atmosphere promises that the event will gather momentum.

Information on the lunch disco can be followed through Facebook.