Danish Sitting Arrangements

January 25, 2007 4:46 AM

A friend was in a cinema in Copenhagen and the seats were numbered left to right 2,4,6,8,10,11,9,7,5,3,1. Is this normal in Copenhagen, Denmark, Scandinavia? If so what is the rationale?
posted by Gratishades to sports, hobbies, & recreation (14 comments total)

It comes from the theatre. The division of 'even' and 'uneven' seats on opposite sides of the theatre prevent people from having to disturb a whole row to reach their seat.

In old theatres, rows of seats used to be much closer to each other, so it was more of a hassle to pass someone.
posted by NekulturnY at 4:56 AM on January 25, 2007

(oh, and it's not specific for Scandinavia, I've seen it pretty much everywhere in Europe at least)
posted by NekulturnY at 4:56 AM on January 25, 2007

Thanks for reply NekultrnY - I assume that you mean that people would know "I'm an odd number so should enter from the left" and therefore minimise disruption without having to know how many seats there are per row?
posted by Gratishades at 5:06 AM on January 25, 2007

Yes, that's it. It's usually marked as well with big signs: even seats, uneven seats, or 'Balcony, even' & 'Balcony, uneven'.
posted by NekulturnY at 5:10 AM on January 25, 2007

They assign seats for movies? That seems like a lot of work.
posted by Thrillhouse at 5:26 AM on January 25, 2007

@Thrillhouse:
It's not uncommon outside America. I've seen it in Europe and Asia.

I like the even/odd seats numbers. Never noticed it before, though I have seen rows divided down the middle to different sections. (K to the left J to the right)
posted by Ookseer at 6:44 AM on January 25, 2007

Thrillhouse: Assigning seats is SOOOO much better than the way seats are given out in the US. They just give you a seat number automagically when you buy a ticket, then you have to sit there (unless the theatre is relatively empty). If you come late, you don't have to stand at the front lookin in vain for two seats next to each other.
posted by beerbajay at 7:05 AM on January 25, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

@Thrillhouse: ALL cinemas I've been to (Asia only) have had assigned seating. :-)
posted by the cydonian at 7:12 AM on January 25, 2007

Assigned seats FTW. I first ran into it in Europe, and it was great. Got assigned a comfy two-person love seat right in the center, then had some lunch and went to the movies.
posted by Tacos Are Pretty Great at 8:55 AM on January 25, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

The seats at a concert hall here in Honolulu are similarly divided even-odd down the center ("continental seating" with no center aisle), so it isn't purely a non-U.S. thing. Insofar as Hawaii is the U.S.
posted by pzarquon at 11:20 AM on January 25, 2007

No assigned seats in the UK (which I still like to think of as european. Call me old fashioned).
And I've never seen seat numbers like that in the theatre either.
posted by dash_slot- at 11:22 AM on January 25, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

I went to a few theaters in Spain with assigned seating. It works pretty well especially if there is a larger group that you are going with.
posted by JJ86 at 1:20 PM on January 25, 2007

I've gone to assigned seat movie theatres in London.

Also, here in Canada, at many theatres (not movie theatres, stage theatres) seats are numbered like that.
posted by stray at 12:38 PM on January 26, 2007

Internet tickets here in Norway come with assigned seating, and you get to pick your seat when you book. So much better than turning up on spec.
posted by arcticseal at 9:58 AM on January 28, 2007