Kategori: Lunch Beat Branches

Gugu Newman is 35yrs old,  works as an Advertising Consultant for a leading Magazine Publisher,  co-owns a Record Label and a Perfume distribution company with his two younger brothers, and design and make Haute Couture furniture.

He is also just to be the Lunch Beat movement’s man in Johannesburg, South Africa.

”I first read about Lunch Beat on BBC’s website and got excited because I found it to be an opportunity and great solution for busy Business Executives and Entrepreneurs in a similar position to get a chance to Dance, party, have great healthy food and energise themselves all during lunch time, to give them the extra boost for their long work hours.
I decided to join the movement to give myself and other busy Execs an opportunity to let off some steam and dance the stress and pressure of work away.

The first Lunch Beat Johannesburg  will take place on September 4th, at Kitchener’s Bar, located in the Art district of Braamfontein in Johannesburg. Can you describe the location and your plans for the event?

”Kitchener’s is regarded by some as one of the City’s Monuments, being the 2nd Oldest Bar in Johannesburg City. It attracts an intimate downtown, underground crowd – your top trend-setters, magazine editors, illustrators, filmmakers, music aficionados and the likes, and is the perfect location for the open minded Business Executives that are willing to push the envelope and reward themselves with some lunch time dancing.
Lunch will consist of Vegetarian and Vegan foods, as well as snack platters and sandwiches. Energy drinks, Soft Drinks and Bottled Water will be the only beverages available.
The music will be an ecclectic mix of the latest dance jams, Electronica and Drum n’ Bass.”

What will be your next step?
”I am looking to partner with other venues across Greater Johannesburg’s Business hubs and numerous CBD’s such as Sandton, Rosebank, Fourways, Melrose Arch, Bryanston, Randburg and more, that have numerous office parks and business hubs. At best, I hope to coordinate up to 10 or more venues hosting LunchBeat sessions within and around Johannesburg.”

What are your hopes for the future of Lunch Beat in South Africa?              ”Once LunchBeat Johannesburg is going successfully, I hope to see other people join the Revolution and spread the movement to other major cities in South Africa, such as Cape Town, Durban, Pretoria and more. My advice for anyone in South Africa looking to get Lunch Beat going in their City is just to jump in and learn how to swim as you go along. Its about fun and dance so just do it!”

Connect with Lunch Beat Johannesburg on Facebook to get info about future events and development.

Juheon Kim lives close to Seoul in Korea, and the first time he heard about Lunch Beat he  thought it was a brilliant idea to hold dance party during the lunch time.

”It sounded so fun, and I immediately thought: This is it”

Juheon Kim, is the creative director of the contemporary arts project Discobus. He is not only a DJ & musician, but a contemporary dancer and teacher passionate about the convergence of contemporary arts.

”I’ve always hoped that the contemporary dance would approach to wider public. In this reason, I created the DISCOBUS in the beginning of this year, and have organized some ’Contemporary arts in club’ projects” he tells me.

How come you decided to bring Lunch Beat to Seoul?

”Generally speaking, Korean people say they can’t dance, but I think they actually they are just shy. They don’t need to be a good dancers. What they need is to enjoy dancing. Honestly, I’m a little worried how people will response to this event, but I believe this can be a start to make a new culture, in which people enjoy dancing and themselves.”

What food will you serve?

”We will serve sandwich and some drinks. Of course, not alcohols.”

What kind of music will you play?

”Lounge music. But, besides this, I will also play some K-pops and dance songs that people may know well.”

How many people do you hope will attend the first event?

”100. That will be the ideal number for the first Lunch Beat Seoul.”

Do you have any thoughts for the future?

”If Lunch Beat starts to spread in Asia, it would be very fun if we could hold our events on the same day, with the same theme. We may creat an Asian Dance Day!”

Lunch Beat Seoul takes place August 8th at Art Center Nabi. Join Lunch Beat Seoul at Facebook and wish the very first Lunch Beat in Korea the best of luck!

Melissa Quintanilha, a designer by day and DJ by night, is just about to set the last details for her very first Lunch Beat session at Microsoft Headquarters in Redmond, Washington on July 12th.

”I saw an article on Slate magazine,  thought the idea was terrific and jumped right on it. I will bring in lights and maybe some decoration to make this a fully immersive in-office clubbing experience. I’m sure everyone will be stoked and leave wanting more.”

Do you see any challenge with making an in-office party a great one?
”Since this is a new concept, I wanted the first Lunch Beat to be totally free, so this required finding an organization willing to fund it. After a few tries, I got a group within our company to sponsor it so I have funds to book a big room, order lunch bags and print some posters. Another challenge is finding a room that is not surrounded by offices so that people won’t complain about the noise in the workplace. The idea is to create awareness with this first one and hopefully start a series.”

Do you have any advice for others who want to start Lunch Beat internally at their offices?
”Find a group of like-minded people that are willing to plan this together. Book a room that is not close to offices so there will be no noise complaints. Start small and grow with time. After all, who doesn’t want a dance break in the middle of the work day?”

Lunch Beat at Microsoft Washington will take place on July 12th, and the employees will be served fruits and boxed lunches with sandwich and a dessert to take away.

June 4 Lunch Beat is introduced in Belgium at the roof of MAS – the newest museum in Antwerp.

”It has become a new hotspot of our city and on top of the museum – 62 meters in the air – we will host a Lunch Beat for 250 dancers whom will enjoy a beautiful panorama over the city while dancing” says Bart Van de Vel, one of the local initiators.

When they heard about it trough social media, the Lunch Beat Antwerp Team immediately fell in love with the idea of Lunch Beat; ”We  want to give a positive vibe to all the working people to help them survive in the city jungle. Forget about all your problems, just dance & enjoy live on a healthy & funny way!” says Van de Vel.

Do you have any advice for others who want to start Lunch Beat in their city?
”Just do it. A lot of people ask me how I managed to convince the city & the museum to participate. Well to be honest, I just asked, told them the story of Lunch Beat & they felt in love too!”

Find event details here!

Lunch Beat @ Musikefterskolen, Langeland, Denmark from Musikefterskolen i Humble on Vimeo.

Some e-mails really makes you smile ear to ear. The one which brought me this film did. It shows the first Lunch Beat session conducted in Denmark at a music school in the remote city called Humble, Langeland. About 130 students and teachers danced together, but the initiator Morten Mosgaard, an educated singer & songwriter who works as a music teacher, decided to keep the event secret until the last minute;

”We introduced the concept by showing a video about the Stockholm Lunch Beat explaining the concept, and the students got all excited to try the concept out! The vibes were absolutely amazing, walking around between eating, smiling and dancing students AND teachers was something I have never experienced before – it was a unique way to bridge the gab between students and teachers.”

And what did the students say?

”The students were very happy about the concept, the smile on their face and the vibes in the room could not be mistaken – they loved it.”

Or to quote a boy in the film;

”It was fucking mad!”

And for you who wonder about the old mans rap in the end of the film;

At the school the students normally receive some information hand outs in the end of each lunch break. At the Lunch Beat event this was no different – except: The mail was handed out through freestyle rap by one of the school director.

Heads up for Humble!