A goal in many peoples life is to inspire others. For Ian Goldsmith, Scott Connerley, and Tyler Wright, that happened. They created a nation wide phenomenon with a dance performed at basketball games and other sports events. That dance was called the Interlude.

Goldsmith and Wright are currently 23, and Connerley is 25. Both are alumni of the University of Northern Iowa.

Wright had previously known the song “Interlude” by Attack Attack! and would always do crazy dance moves whenever he heard it played. Later Goldsmith and Connerley joined in.

During 2010, Connerley and Goldsmith went to China to study abroad. The kids they met in China really enjoyed techno and electronic dance music. “Scott and I would play Interlude and do Tyler’s silly arm dance,” Goldsmith said.

Over time they added in their own moves into the dance, and formed 6 main steps that are now recognized.

When they got back to the United States in November 2010, Goldsmith released an instructional “music video.” Students urged Goldsmith to talk to the UNI Athletic Department to let them perform it at games.

“After getting the courage to ask the Athletic Department, they told me that if I could get over 100 students to come to the next women’s basketball game, then they would let us do the dance,” Goldsmith said.

Two hundred people came to the game and they performed the dance for the first time. The UNI Athletic Director came up to Goldsmith, shook his hand and said that the dance was awesome, and he would love to see that at every game forward.

“The success almost seemed overnight, and in just the next two months we were being interviewed by newspapers, and TV stations across the entire state of Iowa as videos popped up everywhere,” Goldsmith said.

On Jan. 26, 2011, someone by the username UNIsportsFan, uploaded a video of the interlude on YouTube. It was performed during a timeout at a game against Creighton Univeristy.

Another video was posted on Feb. 13, 2011  by the same user. The interlude was performed at a basketball game against Wichita State University.

A little over a year ago they were all asked to perform with the first lady, Michelle Obama. Obama wanted them to teach her the dance at Wells Fargo Arena in front of 12,000 students. Other celebrities were also there such as Governor Terry Branstad, Bob Harper, and Shawn Johnson.

Since then others schools have now started performing the Interlude during their own half time shows. Two years ago was the first time Johnston’s student section performed. It was during senior night, Feb 18, 2011, at a boys’ basketball game against Ames.

Other schools have developed alternatives to the Interlude. Another tradition is called the Silent Night. Taylor University located in Upland, Indiana, created it. The whole crowd remains quiet until a certain amount of points is scored.

“I can’t even describe how loud it was,” Taylor University freshman Morgan Riessen said. “This loud cheering continued for at least five minutes after the point was scored.”  Johnston fans did  the Silent Night at a boys’ basketball against Dowling Catholic this year.

Its been two years since the interlude was first showcased. Over the course of time it has changed and developed into something spread to many schools around the nation. “Nothing warms my heart more than seeing people feeling unified in happiness,” Goldsmith said.