Office drones who are sick of being shackled to their grey dioramas of death during lunchtime have been able to get their wiggles out thanks to Lunch Beat, a pop-up confederation of hour-long, teetotaling "lunchtime dance parties." Lunch Beat made its NYC debut in Long Island City last summer, but this year it's moving to the Slate club in Flatiron. “We think the folks at tech startups will be especially keen on having a club experience during their lunch break,” Lunch Beat organizer Sarah Reynolds told DNAinfo, as a host of evil wraiths, upon hearing the ancient libretto uttered by Reynolds, disgorged the boulder blocking the entrance to their deep sea trench and screamed skyward towards mankind.
The lunchtime dance party movement began in Europe, and like fanny packs and swishy man-capris with numerous, unnecessary drawstrings, embodies the Old World idea of not giving a flying shit about what people think of you.
Lunch Beat in Flatiron will cost "around what people normally spend for lunch" (last year it was $12) and include a vegetarian buffet. Attendees must follow the rules: no booze, no talking about work, and you must dance. Based on photos of last year's events in LIC, it appeared folks were eager to spend their lunch hour in high school.
Flatiron's first Lunch Beat is on April 24, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Slate. Go eat and dance and elevate your heart rate—or sit at your desk alone (again).
Here's what Lunch Beat looked like in Queens last year:
