Wheely good time: a roller disco is coming to Dubai

Disco beats and four-wheeled feet come to Al Quoz this weekend

Roll DXB organise "wicked skate jams" around the city. Instagram / Roll DXB

Unleash your inner Rollergirl this weekend with Roll DXB’s rollerdisco at Dubai Bowling Centre in Al Quoz on Friday June 28, from 6pm.

Rollerdiscos had their heyday in the 1970s, with films like Norman Jewison's Rollerball, ironically set in a dystopian 2018 where the world is a heartless global corporate state, and Skatetown, USA featuring a young Patrick Swayze in his first movie roll, immortalising the craze for all things roller on the big screen. More recent films such as Boogie Nights, featuring Heather Graham as four-wheeled temptress Rollergirl, and Austin Powers in Goldmember, with its roller skating villain Goldmember, have also paid tribute to the era, while the sport of motorball in James Cameron's 2019 Alita: Battle Angel, is essentially a CGI heavy homage to Jewison's 1975 film.

Rollerskating has also had a new lease of life in recent years thanks to the growing popularity of the sport of roller derby, which appears to be a compulsory activity for any 30-plus female who spent the 1990s listening to alternative rock or industrial music.

We’re not expecting any cameras, or derbies, in Al Quoz, but you can expect pumping tunes, a lively crowd, 25 per cent off food and drinks, a Dh17 credit towards bowling if you want to double up on your retro sports, and a skating workshop from leading Australian skater and founder of Rollerfit, Stacey Short.

The event is organised by Roll DXB, whose Facebook page promises, "The hottest roller skates ... 
Open-invite skate strolls around the city ... Wicked skate-jam events and collabs," as well as "big, big tings coming soon."

While we await big, big tings, entry to this Friday's event is Dh100, which includes skate hire, and the disco will run until 11pm. Thee event is first-come-first-served, so get down early. For further information, call  058 440 898 or visit @rolldxb on social media.