With the flashing disco lights and glowing headphones, students at Utah Tech University danced the night away at Silent Disco Jan. 10.
While the event began at 9 p.m., students embraced the cold in a line that ran out of the Student Activity Center and toward the Human Performance Center 15 minutes before it started. Speakers were set up outside, which even further pumped up the attendees as they all sang along to their favorite tunes in anticipation of the event.
This was the first time Silent Disco was created by the Utah Tech Student Association as a new addition to the event calendar. At the event, students were given headphones as they entered the door. On these headphones was the option to change between three different music channels, and depending on the channel, the headphones would light up different colors: red, blue or green. The red channel played today’s hits, the blue was a live student DJ and the green offered throwbacks.
Breonna Bingham, a senior recreation and sports management major from Salina and UTSA social events director, was an event planner from UTSA for Silent Disco. She said the inspiration was to create a dance experience for the students, something many may not have experienced before. With funding for the event from student fees, attendees were able to attend at no charge.
“It’s a mission of the student life team to create weekly events to provide students with no-cost social activities to accompany their academic experience while at Utah Tech,” Bingham said.
Isabella Budge, a freshman biology major from Gresham, Oregon, was persuaded to attend the event because of her roommates but found the event to be enjoyable. She said it was cool to be listening through individual headphones to songs that were shared amongst the crowd.
“It’s a good break [from school] because you’re hanging out with a bunch of your peers, and it’s a good way to meet people,” Budge said.
At the event, a room overlooking the gym dance floor was decorated with disco balls, and drinks were offered to anyone who needed a break from dancing. If dancing wasn’t someone’s forte, there were also tabletop games set up in the room. However, for some, it was enjoyable to see the different channels everyone was listening to.
Daniel Osorio, a sophomore software engineering major from Bogota, Colombia, said he walked around enjoying the music, meeting up with friends and simply dancing to the music playing.
“It’s the first week of classes, and it’s already a bit overwhelming,” Osorio said. “When I heard about the silent disco and some of my teachers confirmed what it was, I decided to give it a try. Honestly, it’s better than I expected.”
At the front of the room, the DJ controlled the music playing on the three channels. When popular songs like “Dancing Queen” by ABBA would play, the room was filled with voices singing along to the music from the headphones. While the event was titled Silent Disco, oftentimes, the room was filled with singing, laughing and the sound of people dancing.
“If it [depended] on me, I would make this a monthly event because, with all the academic toll, listening to music and chilling around, it’s pretty nice,” Osorio said.
