Mobile Clubbing in Tel Aviv
'We come, we dance and we go, there's no ideology'
Liora and Iris were simply looking for a quiet bench on the corner of Ben Zion and King George Boulevards in Tel Aviv to catch up on some gossip. A little after they sat themselves down, exactly at 7.47 pm, dozens of people broke out in frenzied dance in front of their astonished eyes: Each person was plugged into his own earphones. This was a Mobile Clubbing event, an underground European movement aimed at improving the state of mind, and which also has a growing branch in Tel Aviv (the initiative has yet to infiltrate other Israeli cities).
The two women had stumbled on the movement's third anniversary, which explained the balloons hanging around. "The people look somewhat bizarre, but actually they are quite courageous, open, and they express themselves," Liora says as she looks amicably at the dancers passing by. "It's nice to leave cynicism behind, and when it does pop up, I remind myself that I am the coward here. It's very authentic."
The "authentic" is translated into some 40 10-40-year-olds, the vast majority are men mostly freakish looking, the type that doesn't mind making fun of themselves as long as they make others smile with their non-conformist statements. And what's the point you may very well ask? And is the event sponsored by the municipality, or will the police turn up at a moment?
The event organizer May, takes off her earphones for a moment. "The founders are two of our friends from London, Ben and Emma," she pants. "They saw how on the Tube everyone was connected to their earphones and decided to turn it into a party. At first only five people took part, and now it's hundreds. The train's management even announces that there is a Mobile Clubbing event at one station or another and asks everyone to look after their belongings."
Doesn't being alone with your music alienate you?
"At the night clubs there is high volume and it's impossible to talk. We don't have an ideology, we come, we dance and we go. It's organized in seconds, you send out emails and most of the marketing is done by word of mouth. The objective is to bring people into the public space. We have organized lots of events, a pillow fight at the Rabin Square, blowing bubbles and origami."
Does it suit the Israeli mentality to dance in the streets like this?
"They don't loosen up very easily. What's nice is that only a few dozen come to the parties but a thousand came to the pillow fight. If you add a little aggression it becomes a hit. In London everyone turns up exactly on time, events start on the second. But in Israel seven is never seven, there's no discipline."
