Guru Dudu’s Silent Disco Walking Tours
City and Tea Tree Plaza
If you have been anywhere near Rundle Mall or Rundle St in the evenings over the fringe period, you probably would have seen a group of weirdos dancing to apparently invisible musicians. These collectives are part of Guru Dudu’s Silent Disco Walking Tours, which are operating in the City and Tea Tree Plaza.
Silent Disco has been around for a while, but it usually operates in a single location. The concept is simple enough – give the punters headphones through which music is broadcast, and let them choose the channel they prefer from several choices. To the outside world the result is both hilarious and mystifying, as the speeds and types of music on each channel vary and so the revellers are randomly in and out of sync with one another.
The walking tours are slightly different – one channel operated by a guide (Disko Duk Duk in our case) who leads you around the streets, directing the group’s actions throughout the session. So in addition to dancing, members are encouraged to sing (but fortunately you can’t hear yourself), perform synchronised moves, and interact with the people around who stop to gape.
Our evening was incredibly hot so we spent a bit of time going into (and occasionally getting evicted from) the various air conditioned arcades. The people watching who found themselves included in the action were generally good sports, and there was plenty of amusement and filming from passers-by. Its’s pretty easy to forget that everyone outside can hear your attempts to sing, but it’s a pretty freeing and surprisingly non-embarrassing experience to do something like this in a public space.
Disko Duk Duk was a great leader and had everyone warmed up and right into it early on. The punters were a real mix of friends and families, and I didn’t see anyone walking away without a smile on their face.
A great little feel good activity for all ages – surprise yourself with how comfortable you can be having a boogie and singing in a public space.
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