A Dance Party – At the company

Chairs were lifted and noisily pushed against the walls. The lights were slightly dimmed. The DJ, who had been hitherto dormant, gradually began increasing the volume of the music.

The last performance of the comedy show had just finished. The dance party was about to begin.

As the tempo of the music began picking up, the air became thick with anticipation. Few people hesitantly began moving their bodies in sync with the music.

The company, as usual had offered flat 50% discount on the beer. As a result, the drinks section was pretty crowded. Early birds, who had stationed themselves there ever since the evening started were quite tipsy by now. There raucous laughter was entrenched in the surroundings. The latecomers, who until now were enjoying the performances, were quickly drowning beer after beer.

The music soon became too enticing for any self-respecting dancer to ignore. Girls, who until now had been content with giggling at jokes cracked by their colleagues began drifting towards the floor. The ones with beer cans in their hands, made sure to hand them over to their male colleagues before proceeding. In a matter of minutes, the dance floor came to life.

For the roving eye, it was a sight to behold. The area was overflowing with cocktail dresses, halter tops, tank tops, skirts, jeans. As the people began gyrating to the music, the drinkers finally began moving towards them. Small groups were formed.

Most groups had one or two leaders. The ones who did the actual dancing. They thumped their feet on the ground when the beat became fast, swayed their bodies when the beats became slow, displayed expressions as the mood of the song demanded and ensured that no one in the group missed the revelry. Next in the group were the followers. They closely followed the moves of the leaders, and copied them to their best possible efforts; even improvising at times. Last in the group were the ones who had tagged along. Some had beer cans in their hands and were lost deep in thought, some were looking at everyone else in the group and were politely nodding and smiling, some were trying their best to dance but were more or less making a mess of it and some were just trying to impress the girls with their antics.

The groups comprising members from the tech team had no girls to boast off; which was expected. They were dancing with great elan; jumping, shouting, doing the pelvic thrust and trying to pull of some weird stunts. Most of them had beer cans in their hands and were making good use of it as a prop. They would cast longing glances in the direction of girls which were usually not returned. But the lucky few, who did manage to get an approving stare from the girls, were loudly cheered for by their group.

The DJ kept on belting out track after track. The crowd’s enthusiasm underwent a sudden uplift whenever a track changed. Quite a few members were also demanding songs of their own choices, which were not usually not heeded to. It was not long before most people were covered in sweat. However, that did not dim the enthusiasm one bit. When the music finally stopped, the entire crowd roared in a united voice. “Once more. Once more.Once more..”

The DJ, responded with equal gusto. The party was extended by another fifteen minutes. Everybody was dancing their hearts out. The ones without girls were not letting their absence dampen the spirits. Boys were seizing each other’s hands and breaking into ball dance. The ones who had been itching to perform steps from local dance forms began dancing as well, without giving a damn about the kind of music being played. Some groups had formed huddles, and with arms on each other’s shoulders were going round and round. The tired ones, were rooted at their places but continued rocking their bodies gently. The wannabes had lifted their beer cans in the air and were pouring a steady stream of beer down the throats of their friends.

Soon, the music began reaching a crescendo. People were putting all their energy into the dance. Some had already started hugging and were promising to love each other, unto death.

Finally, the track ended with a flourish.

The dance party was every bit as exhilarating as it had promised to be.