Going to the gym before work is so passe.
A party company is now offering a new kind of morning workout regiment — early morning, sober raves. The eye-opening format is the perfect way to start a weekday, a participant said.
“We do not have to relegate dancing to super-late at night and while under the influence of drugs,” said Tasha Blank, one of the disc jockeys who spun at the first Morning Glory rave, which was held at the Kinfolk 94 gallery space in Williamsburg early on Wednesday morning.
The raves are modeled after well-lit morning bashes that debuted in London last year. When Annie Fabricant, the co-founder of the New York branch of Morning Glory, discovered the events when she went home for the holidays, she decided to replicate them here. The difference between them and the dance parties she had been to was like night and day, she said.
“It was a wave of really positive energy, everyone was really dancing and moving,” said Fabricant of her first Morning Glory experience. “I was used to raves where everyone was on drugs and alcohol. But this had an atmosphere that was so warm and loving. There was no tension or ego.” The raves will happen about once a month. For the $20 entrance fee, ravers get to dance from 6:30 am to 10:30 am and also get a massage to work out the kinks before heading in to the office. There are also fruit and smoothie vendors on hand to provide all the social — and gastrointestinal — lubrication the party needs.
The organizers of the Morning Glory raves have very specific reasons for throwing the parties on Wednesday mornings.
“It is not an after-party. We do not want it to have that vibe, and we do not want intoxicated people showing up,” said Fabricant. “And the point of this is to help with the daily grind. This is part of a healthy regimen.”
The raves might also have other unintended but positive consequences.
“A lot of people who went to the Morning Glory parties in London and went to job interviews that same day got the job,” said Fabricant.
The mix masters said they play house music just as they would at a nighttime rave, but they strive for a sunnier, bouncier sound.
“I go for a really high-vibe, celebratory, life-affirming, groovy house set,” said Blank.
The next Morning Glory party is scheduled for June 18.
Morning Glory Raves at Kinfolk 94, 94 Wythe Ave. between N. 10th and N. 11 streets, Williamburg, www.facebook.com/morninggloryvillenyc.
