Ti22 Films’ Reim El Houni Makes The Case For Dancing—At Work

Much like any business leader out there, Reim El Houni, founder and CEO of the UAE-headquartered award-winning video production company Ti22 Films, is always keen to foster and improve her mental state – as well as that of her team’s – when going through the trials and tribulations of work on a day-to-day basis. Now, El Houni believes that she has found an excellent way to do just that – and that is by getting herself and her team to just dance.

“I’ve realized that if I am working in an environment that is positive, then I am more likely to be uplifted and a more positive leader, and in turn, if my team feels that positivity, then it will transfer to them,” El Houni explains. “And I haven’t seen any effort succeed in this regard at the same speed as getting everyone to dance. Within seconds of a song coming on, and everyone standing up to dance along, you can literally see those frowns turn upside down.”

Now, freestyling by the filing cabinet might not be the first thing most of us think of when we are considering ways to uplift morale at work, but El Houni swears by the transformative impact that dancing can have in the workplace. Of course, her argument gains further weight when you realize that she learned this tactic from one of the world’s most well-known productivity czars, Tony Robbins.

“In 2016, I attended my first live event featuring Tony, which was called ‘Unleash the Power Within,’ and I had traveled abroad alone to participate in it,” El Houni recalls. “I clearly remember being in studious mode, taking notes, and taking in every word Tony said, when suddenly out of nowhere he would shout out, ‘Put your books down!’, and then, without prior notice, the classroom would suddenly transition to a dance floor! A popular song was blaring, everyone around me was dancing, and it felt like I was transported into a rave. A few minutes later, the track would die down, and Tony would yell, ‘High-five 10 people!’ and ‘Hug a stranger!” Now, while many people believe me to be an extrovert, I am innately an introvert, and so, finding myself needing to participate in these activities pushed me out of my comfort zone. The whole episode lasted no more than 7-8 minutes, and we were then back with our notebooks learning. I remember Tony saying, ‘The fastest way to change your psychology is to change your physiology,’ and that truly stuck with me.”

The experience clearly stayed with El Houni, given that when she returned to her office a week later, she announced to her team that they were to now enter “the era of dance.” She made a member of her team responsible for blaring out music in the office a few times at random over the course of a day, and she told her team that going forward, they would be dancing to such tunes on a daily basis. Now, El Houni was quite enthusiastic about the endeavor – but her team, well, not so much.

“It was faced with extreme resistance,” she admits. “People didn’t want to dance. In fact, many saw it as a distraction and an interruption to their day. A few team members had private conversations with me to let me know just how distracting it was. I appreciated that; however, all that meant was we needed to readjust our dancing times so that it didn’t interrupt meetings or serious workflow.”

El Houni thus persisted in getting her team to join her dance fervor, and while it did take a while, the results soon began to emerge. “What I started to notice is that although people may start the dance session looking and feeling bewildered, within seconds, their entire demeanor would change,” El Houni shares. “Everyone would be laughing and smiling, and it was a literal reset for people’s moods. When I started to see that, I decided that we would have to continue, regardless of how people felt, because it was for the greater good. Within a few months, everyone was on board, and it is now something we are proud of and something I actually inform candidates about in their interview, as it is part of our culture.”

But it’s not just her team that El Houni encourages to dance – indeed, she has broadened her realm of influence in the recent past. “When I realized the impact it has on my team and the energy boost we all have afterward, it made me start to wonder why this needs to be restricted to them,” she explains. “As a company, we happen to run many workshops, trainings, and events throughout the year, and recently, when I put together my first boot camp, I thought that it was time to experiment with the power of dance on our participants. The first time you play music and ask everyone to dance, most people look blankly. But then they realize that you’re serious, and they start to slowly participate. Eventually, they understand it’s part of the experience, and they join in. It shifts everyone’s energy, it makes people more alert, and, above all, it’s fun! I honestly think that people now look forward to our training sessions and events, because they know it is an opportunity to feel a bit more free. I had one participant thank me for reminding her that she can dance – I never imagined that I would be taking credit for that!”

Now, for the rest of us reading this and wanting to see if dancing can have a positive effect in our own workplaces and/or gatherings, El Houni says that the success of the effort stems from how you – as the leader or instigator – lean into that role.

“It all starts with you!” El Houni declares. “I take dancing more seriously than my team. I make sure I participate fully. No one can argue if the CEO is on her feet full of energy and dancing away. So, I would say the first step is to get involved and do it with full enthusiasm – it allows others to feel free to do the same! I’ve also realized that not everyone will want to participate with the same gusto, and so, in the last few years, we have introduced a ‘follow the leader’ approach, whereby one person starts the dance with a ‘move,’ the next then copies or reinterprets that ‘move,’ they then throw the baton to another team member, and we proceed to follow that individual. By doing it in this way, everyone has their moment to shine!”

El Houni also urges paying attention to the choice of music. “With our events, for instance, we look at the demographics of the group, and we prepare a playlist ahead of time that we feel will resonate with them. I am also very particular about the pace and beat of the tracks we use. They should be songs that will get the audience on their feet, preferably songs that they know and can potentially sing along to. Plus, when doing this with a group of business leaders or CEOs, I am very conscious of having my team at full energy with me. The audience can’t help but participate when they see how much effort we have put in to get them on their feet. I inform participants at the start that they can expect to dance throughout their time with us, and that any time the energy is low, or any time a participant isn’t in the room on time, it is a perfect reason for us to break out into dance all over again. Turning dance into a part of the framework of our workshops and events normalizes the experience.”

That said, as El Houni’s own experience shows, don’t expect everyone to be grooving through the grind as soon as you roll out such an effort – but she says that the payoff will almost certainly justify the energy you put into it. “The number of times we have had people who look unimpressed at the start of the day, only to be dancing center stage by the end, is fascinating,” El Houni says. “And this has taught me to persevere, regardless of the skepticism, as they do eventually come around. The key is realizing that everyone jumps on board at their own pace, but not letting that deter you and to keep going. At the end of the day, remember that it’s said that there are shortcuts to happiness, and dance is one of them!”

Pictured on image: Ti22 Films founder and CEO Reim El Houni. Courtesy of Ti22 Films.