11/10/2022
Thanks to Neurodiverse Review for your lovely comments - we had such a great time performing for all the surprised shoppers! Maybe next time they'll all join in!! 🤩
Dance Review: Open Arts Flash Mob
★ ★ ★ ★
Belfast’s Castlecourt Shopping Centre was not prepared for this unique public intervention. With dancers from Luminous Soul moving to Open Art’s A ca****la choir belting out Proud Mary, the acoustics of the Foodhall were perfect!
Despite the dancers all being in ‘Luminous Soul’ t-shirts, and trying to be inconspicuous, many of the Belfast shoppers didn’t have a clue that their Friday trip round the shops was about to be disrupted with dance and song.
Eileen Branagh, CEO of Open Arts, told me that she thinks the reaction to this spontaneous happening is typical of the people of Belfast. ‘They don’t like to join in, they’re shy, they like to turn away when they see something out of the ordinary or creative’. I did notice that there was an encouraging audience watching the choir and dancers, even if they were reluctant to dance themselves.
Cinzia Savonitti, one of the dancers, told me how nervous she was before the flashmob ‘as soon as I started I wasn’t frightened anymore, it’s been a great collaboration between our groups’.
I don’t know if flashmobs are usually reviewed, but I feel in this case, it should be. It was great to see disabled dancers taking up space unapologetically, performing without permission, not caring if anyone was watching or not. It was empowering and beautifully done, with pitch perfect harmonies, to match excellent and authentic movement.
