Creators of The Interlude
UNI 150: People you should know
Six dance moves and one song become a UNI tradition
The legacy of three young alumni lives on at the University of Northern Iowa each time the Panther community participates in the now-iconic Interlude dance.
Then-UNI student Tyler Wright loved the 2008 song “Interlude” by Attack Attack! so much he introduced it to his group of friends, including his fellow Panthers Ian Goldsmith and Scott Connerley. Wright had a particular way of dancing to the song, moving his arms up and down to the beat, a signature move that any Interlude dancer would recognize.
Later, while working with children overseas, Goldsmith and Connerley discovered dancing was a great way to keep their students active. They taught dances like the YMCA and Cha Cha Slide and, eventually, made up their own. They instructed the children to dance in a way that mimicked Wright’s arm movement set, of course, to “Interlude” by Attack Attack!
The dance grew to encompass six movements. By the end of the summer, Goldsmith, Connerley and their students knew each one by heart.
“Without those students loving the song and dancing along with us, the Interlude may not have ever turned into anything,” said Connerley.
Once Goldsmith and Connerley returned to the U.S., they attended resident assistant training at UNI, and taught the dance to their fellow RAs in Campbell Hall. They later uploaded a how-to video for the dance to YouTube, and the sensation known as the Interlude was born in 2010.
When the dance took off, others began uploading their own Interlude videos to YouTube, catching on at other college campuses and spreading around the world, including service members deployed in Afghanistan getting in on the fun. The three co-creators also got to teach the dance to the first lady of the United States and Iowa governor.
The story of the Interlude continues today. New students still learn the dance during Panther Welcome. The Interlude is often done in the McLeod Center at athletics events and has truly become an iconic part of the UNI experience at other events as well.
“It's an honor to have been involved in the creation of a long-standing tradition at UNI,” said Wright.
Students also participate in the Interlude at the annual Homecoming dance where Goldsmith runs the music. Goldsmith is now a professional DJ, which is only fitting for someone whose college years focused so heavily on getting others to dance.
“The shelf life of the dance has already outlived what any of us originally thought it might,” he said.
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