Sennheiser provided the headphones for the Silent Disco.(Photo: The American Pavilion 2014)
CANNES, France —The music stopped and the dancing began.
That’s what happened at the oddest premiere at the Cannes Film Festival — the Silent Disco at the American Pavilion.
The event featured participants wearing wireless headphones and dancing together in what appeared to be silence from the outside world. But with the headphones on, the dancers were feeling happy while listening to Pharell’s Happy.
“It does look a little goofy at first,” admitted Jeff Touzeau, a representative from Sennheiser audio. The German sound specialist company gave up the RS 120 wireless headphones to make the grooving possible.
“Once you participate you totally get it,” Touzeau added. “It’s not isolating. It’s a community building experience. They are dancing together and sharing the same sound experience.”
Touzeau says the popularity of the silent disco movement is growing, so much so Sennheiser will also feature a major event with the Ford Motor Company in Detroit this weekend.
Organizing the Cannes event had the added bonus of getting filmmakers familiar with the company’s sound products.
“This is the whole cauldron for film. This is where the creators are,” says Touzeau. “That’s the kind of consumer we’re looking for.”
The filmmakers at the Cannes Film Festival quickly got into the groove.
Apirana Ipo, 30, a writer/director, stopped silently jamming to Michael Jackson to explain that he was enjoying the experience.
“It’s weird at first, you have to switch off that part of your brain,” says Ipo. “If you can’t switch it off, it doesn’t work. It’s all very new.”
His partner in silent grooving, Andrew Purse, 25, a writer/film gaffer, admitted the scene looked off for the outsider.
“Especially if you didn’t have the headphones on. You’d have no idea what these people are dancing to,” says Purse.
Actress Jaclyn Marry, 27, says the new form of dancing allows options. People can either dance together or simply take off the headphones and talk.
“You get to choose, conversation or dance,” says Marry. “And you rarely get to choose both of these worlds. And it creates a camaraderie with the crowd. That’s what makes it special. ”
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