Footpath dancers ‘feeling a little lighter’
Amy Anselmi was one of many Wimmera people ‘feeling a bit flat’ following last week’s announcement of Victoria’s sixth COVID-19 lockdown.
So she went home, put on her headphones and enjoyed a one-woman silent disco on the footpath outside her house.
“I was feeling a bit out of sorts and flat, probably like most people,” Ms Anselmi said.
“I just thought, what do I do? I can’t go around and see a friend, I can’t go out anywhere, so I put my headphones on, came out here and danced in the dark. “It just lifted everything.” After rocking out to songs including Affirmation by Savage Garden and Somebody to Love by Queen, the Horsham dance teacher formulated a plan.
“At 8pm every evening during lockdown number six, we head out onto the footpaths outside our homes, put on our headphones and dance,” she said.
“Then we go back inside feeling a little lighter and a little more connected to the world.”
Ms Anselmi launched a ‘Silent Footpath Lockdown Disco’ Facebook group and soon clocked up 100 members. She now has more than 400. “Our Facebook group got a lot of people really excited to come out of their houses, just onto their footpaths, at 8pm on every night of lockdown to just have a boogie for a few minutes,” she said.
Adding to the community feel, group members shared videos of themselves and family members participating in the silent disco.
Members celebrated the final night of lockdown six on Monday following Premier Daniel Andrews’ announcement restrictions would ease in regional Victoria.