Viral
Becca Monaghan
May 09, 2022
Twitter
The four-day Conference on the Future of Europe has come to a close – in the most unconventional way.
To mark the end of the event in Strasbourg – where EU lawmakers came together to discuss how they can improve the European Union – a troupe of interpretive dancers appeared out of nowhere.
They performed a routine around the hemicycle for the first ten minutes, with a narrator that reportedly whispered in French: "You have just arrived on the Moon... your hands become fish... You discover a new planet. Here, plants have taken power." MEPs could be seen awkwardly watching on – looking just as baffled as those on Twitter when the clip surfaced online.
Choreographed by French dancer Angelin Preljocaj, the unexpected move led Pro-Brexiteers to chime in on the action.
GB News presenter Darren Grimes said: "Interpretative dance at the EU parliament. Brexit was worth it to avoid this alone.
"The faces of the MEPs are hilarious. #cringe"
Nigel Farage also jumped in and reiterated on Twitter: "There are many reasons why I am pleased to no longer be an MEP.
"Not having to witness this 'interpretive dance' is one of them."
One Twitter user hit back at Farage, saying: "Other countries have a deep and ancient culture to you bell***. Just coz you don’t like or respect it doesn’t mean it’s bad or wrong."
"You hardly ever turned up, Nige," another joked.
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D\u00e9but de l\u2019\u00e9v\u00e9nement de cl\u00f4ture de la Conf\u00e9rence pour l\u2019avenir de l\u2019Europe sous le signe de la culture avec la chor\u00e9graphie \u00ab\u00a0Danse l\u2019Europe\u00a0\u00bb de Angelin Preljocaj #CoFoEpic.twitter.com/29Bh9wCHDe— Laurence Farreng (@Laurence Farreng) 1652091206
More stunned people turned to social media to gauge what was happening.
"WW3 about to break out... But first..let's dance," one witty user penned, while another mirrored his comments, tweeting: "There are people starving, on the verge of WW3 and they are wasting time and money on that... Looking at some of the representatives, they don't look impressed."
I\u2019m sure everyone participating in this is so proud, as are their mothers, but let\u2019s face it: \n\nEveryone else just thinks this sort of thing is utterly ridiculous and we\u2019re all laughing at it. \n\nWho on earth decided interpretive dance should be mixed w/ politics & government?https://twitter.com/laurencefarreng/status/1523607067927343107\u00a0\u2026— Sara (@Sara) 1652106035
I just hope for their sake they have a bar on site, I think I'd need a stiff drink to forget this.https://twitter.com/laurencefarreng/status/1523607067927343107\u00a0\u2026— Liam Christopher Ritchie \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 (@Liam Christopher Ritchie \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7) 1652107127
pic.twitter.com/hm4sbCAZdI— Patrz\u0119 i nie wierz\u0119 (@Patrz\u0119 i nie wierz\u0119) 1652109728
Fitting seems everything seems to be choreographed and one be show— kev lang \ud83e\ude78 (@kev lang \ud83e\ude78) 1652099679
This is so bad.— Pro Life Sophie (@Pro Life Sophie) 1652101739
Good Lord!pic.twitter.com/MnRQc0InWb— \ud83c\udd70\ufe0fpop - 8472 (@\ud83c\udd70\ufe0fpop - 8472) 1652098407
The room was treated to another performance around an hour later. But, this time, it was Beethoven's Ode to Joy - the European anthem – by a group of musicians from each member state.
EU Parliament President Roberta Metsola concluded: "Citizens - especially young people - are at the heart of our vision for the future of Europe. They have directly shaped the outcome of the Conference.
"We are at a defining moment of European integration and no suggestion for change should be off-limits.
"We should not be afraid to unleash the power of Europe to change people's lives for the better."
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