Of course,
when you are in Groningen, you should experience the night life of the city.
Before I tell you about this, I want to explain some interesting insights by Luis-Manuel
Garcia in his paper ‘Solidarity on the dancefloor.’ Certain gestures of
generosity are perceived totally different by people during daytime and during night-time.
Where we often experience resistance or distrust during daytime, these ‘layers
of protective suspicion’ fall away during night-time. ‘Initial gestures of
social warmth are less likely to be misunderstood or rebuffed, and the risk of
intimacy with strangers becomes more affordable.’ Marie states in Garcia’s
paper that ‘the temporal dislocation of night time, along with the shared
activities of dancing and drinking, create a feeling of equality that
encourages social contact.’ People loosen up and feel a connection that seems
to be based on temporary equality. It doesn’t last long, but generates an open
attitude. According to Garcia, the reason that theories can’t give specifics
about why crowds cohere well is that vagueness is the cause.
You notice
this in Groningen as well. During night-time it feels more normal to talk to
complete strangers than during daytime. Especially, girls standing in line for
the toilet seem to feel some sort of equality, since they share the same
problem and feelings at that time, which makes it easy to start conversations
with random people. Also on the dancefloor itself, you notice that it is easier
to get into touch with people and just join a picture for instance, like I did.
However, the contrary can also be true. When it is extremely busy in certain
places, people get annoyed by strangers who want to pass them or take ‘their
space to dance.’ But altogether, the theory from Garcia’s paper can be clearly
seen during nightlife in Groningen.
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| In 't Fust, a pub in Groningen |
Reference:
1) Garcia, L. (2015). Crowd Solidarity on the Dance Floor in Paris and Berlin.
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