Disco with your colleagues: Groove Fitness for corporate events
What happens when colleagues dance together? A Groove Fitness staff session, classic disco and soul, and a little research on mood and connection.
DANCE TEAM BUILDINGCORPORATE EVENTS BELGIUMCORPORATE DANCE FITNESSSTAFF WELLBEING ACTIVITIESDISCO AND SOULGROOVE FITNESS
Richard Ventham
9/23/20263 min read
Earlier this month, my wife Ellen asked me to bring Groove Fitness to a staff event at her company, a global life sciences and clinical research company with its Belgian branch in the Brussels area. Half an hour of dancing as one of the activities during their Belonging Week.
Now, I’ve spent 28 years in the pharmaceutical industry, but being there to lead people through Proud Mary was a slightly different contribution from my previous ones.
We started with We Are Family, worked our way through some disco and soul favourites, and finished with Barry White. The crowd was younger on average than my regular classes, which made no apparent difference. People seemed to have a really good time, there was enthusiastic applause, and afterwards Ellen received messages like this:
“The dancing was absolutely fantastic!!!! Wow, what a burst of energy to have in the building 🙂”
Another thanked her for the week’s activities and “your husband’s enthusiasm yesterday. It was really fun!”
That’s the sort of feedback I’m very happy to receive.
An idea I’d put on hold
Events were always part of my original plan for Groove. Get the regular classes going, then bring the music and dancing to staff days, parties and other occasions.
Getting the classes established took longer than I’d imagined. Some worked, some didn’t, and there was always something else to sort out. So the events idea went on hold while I concentrated on what I already had.
Ellen’s invitation was a good reason to pick it up again. It gave me the chance to take something I love doing every week and share it with a different group of people. And after that afternoon, I wanted to do more of it.
Why disco?
Obviously, I’m biased. I’ve built a whole fitness venture around music I love.
But there’s something about disco that makes it particularly right for this. Its roots in Black, Latino and gay club communities are part of its appeal to me: places where people could come together, express themselves and enjoy dancing. That sense of shared enjoyment matters to what I’m trying to do with Groove.
You can hear it in the music. For me, these songs still have an extraordinary ability to lift the mood and make moving feel like the obvious thing to do.
And you don’t need to have been around when they first came out. The staff session was a useful reminder of that.
What happens when we dance together?
I lead simple sequences, so you have something to follow. You don’t have to invent your own moves in front of your colleagues, although you’re welcome to add them.
The sequences are guidelines. If you go left when I go right, we’ll survive. If you want to make the movements smaller, take a break or dance along in your own way, that’s fine too.
What interests me is the shared experience: spending half an hour or an hour moving to music together, with room to relax and enjoy yourself. Getting every step right adds very little if you’re too busy concentrating to have fun.
There’s some research behind that sense of connection, too. In one experiment, people who danced in time together felt closer to one another afterwards. A separate study involving hospital employees found that those taking dance classes reported a more positive mood and a greater sense of energy.
Having spent so long in corporate life, I like the idea of giving colleagues time to enjoy themselves together. Some music, a chance to move and a shared experience that leaves people smiling. That’s a worthwhile outcome in itself.
Bringing Groove to your event
I offer sessions of 30–60 minutes for staff days, team events and company celebrations, as well as private parties and community occasions.
I’m based in Leuven and can travel roughly an hour from here. Introductions can be in Dutch, with simple English cues during the songs: left, right, sidestep, that sort of thing. You can also just watch me and follow along.
If you’re organising something and think a bit of disco and soul would fit, find out more about Groove for events and parties and get in touch. We can talk about your group, your venue and what you have in mind.
I come to your venue and lead the dancing. Your colleagues, friends or guests can follow along, add their own style and get a few steps wrong. But most of all, have fun.
Richard
Chief Groove Officer 🪩