Whatever happened to dancing? Sweaty, carefree, joyful, uninhibited dancing.
The kind you did in your 20s at the club after waiting outside in heels and a miniskirt in below-freezing temperatures. The kind you did after taking too many $2 shots with your roommates. The kind of dancing that necessitated a dirty slice of pizza at 3 a.m.
The kind of dancing that required you to “put your hands up in the air and wave them around like you just don’t care” because Usher or Pitbull or the Backstreet Boys told you to.
Whatever happened to getting together with your girlfriends just to go out and dance? When did we all stop dancing?
I am a millennial woman (OK, an elder millennial), and I’m trying to recall when we, as a generation, last danced. Was it when we all got married? Is that the last time we danced with our friends? When the wedding DJ would play “I Gotta Feeling” by the Black Eyed Peas and we’d all hit the floor in our bridesmaid dresses, trying to avoid the drunkest groomsman?
That might have been the last time we all, as a generation, danced. Because after the weddings came the babies. Many of us had kids — I had three — and the idea of going out to dance (or even just going out to do anything for myself) became a ludicrous prospect.
To be honest, even if I wanted to go out dancing, I wouldn’t know the first place to go. I can tell you where every Chuck E. Cheese is located, but I cannot name a single nightclub operating today. Plus, most clubs don’t open until 11 p.m. I have to be in deep REM sleep before 11 p.m. in order to function when my three children jump on me at 6 a.m. As a busy, working, exhausted mom, you will never catch me at a nightclub.
That is why I created Evening Club, a wildly fun, judgment-free dance party from 7 to 10 p.m., designed for women and queer folks who want a great night out and a good night’s sleep. I’ll be DJ-ing pure nostalgic bangers while you dance, laugh, sweat, connect and rediscover that uninhibited joy you used to feel on the dance floor — the kind that can sometimes disappear with adulthood.
“So why aren’t men invited!?” ask the straight men. I wanted to gear this event towards women and people in the LGBTQ+ community because there are so few spaces that are just for us. Plus, there is something very special about a community of women coming together in a safe space, with no motive other than to simply connect, let go, dance and have fun.
As women in our forties, we don’t often give ourselves permission to simply have fun. Sure, we try to engage in “self-care,” but that is usually defined as yoga or connecting with nature. What about connecting with Beyoncé?
Research has found that women in their 40s who went out dancing experienced reduced stress and improved psychological well-being just from one night of putting their hands up in the air and waving them around like they just don’t care. Women noted that hitting the dance floor made them feel like themselves again.
Dance has also been shown to promote healthy aging in older adults; not just as a form of aerobic exercise but as a holistic combo of cognitive challenges, multi-sensory stimulation and social interaction.
I am bringing Evening Club to cities across Canada because I want to make you feel like yourself again. I want to remind you how fun you are and how joyful it can feel to move, to laugh, to connect with other women over a Britney lyric, some *NSYNC choreo or a Celine Dion crescendo.
I am on a mission to bring back dancing. In a judgment-free space, at a reasonable hour, without the high heels or the miniskirts or the 3 a.m. pizza.
So … will you dance with me?
Evening Club is happening in venues across Canada this May and June, with proceeds being donated to local charities that benefit women and the LGBTQ+ community. Find tickets and info at jessicruickshank.com/tour.
