About a year ago, longtime friends Laura Baginski and Susie Lee reconnected at their 30-year high school reunion. While the two women talked about their careers, motherhood and everything else. They talked about how they missed going out and had been struggling to find a place that played music they liked and didn't start late at night.
That long conversation is what inspired the duo to start Earlybirds Club, a lively dance party for “middle-aged” women, non-binary and trans people who want to go out and also be in bed by 11 pm because “they have m.” .. There is nothing to do in the morning”, as their slogan says. The (mostly) bi-monthly event launched in Chicago in February and expanded to New York. Next month it will arrive in Los Angeles.
“It's just about women supporting other women, creating a safe space to be absolutely ridiculous and dancing like maybe you haven't danced in a long time,” says Laura Baginski.
(Meagan Shuptar)
As the name suggests, the evening performance starts and ends early: it starts at 6 pm and ends at 10 pm.
“I can't stay up late anymore,” said Baginski, 49, a former marketing director for a nonprofit organization and mother of two young children. “There is nothing out there that addresses that kind of need for women our age. “You can go out to dinner, you can take a yoga class, but if you want to go out dancing, the clubs don't open until 10 at night, so that's out of our capabilities.”
He adds: “There's not much group dancing anymore, except at weddings or bar mitzvahs, and that shouldn't be the only place you can dance at this age.”
For Lee, who is experiencing stage 4 breast cancer, Earlybirds Club has given her something to focus on besides her own struggles. “The diagnosis, chemotherapy and surgeries completely stopped my life,” says Lee, 49, who has been a makeup artist for more than 20 years. He has fought cancer five times.
“I was totally depressed,” Lee says. “Then we founded Earlybirds Club on a whim and I shifted my focus to creating joy and fun for others.”
Baginski and Lee threw their first party in February at a Chicago bar called Burlington on the night of a blinding snowstorm. Despite the weather, over 100 people showed up, many of whom they didn't know, ready to dance and sing with their friends in a sweaty room. Lee's cousin, who calls herself DJ hbom (Helean Lee), provided the night's soundtrack, playing '80s new wave (Baginski and Lee's favorite genre), nostalgic pop records, and female empowerment songs. . Some party favorites include “Poison” by Bell Biv Devoe, “Like a Prayer” by Madonna, “Turn Down for What” by DJ Snake and Lil Jon, “Fantasy” by Mariah Carey and anything by Britney Spears.
Word about the party spread quickly, so they moved to a venue with a larger capacity for their next party. They still had a waiting list of over 600 people, so they organized another event shortly after to meet demand.
After receiving several requests from their followers on social media, Baginski and Lee decided to start taking the party on the road. They hosted two events in New York in November, and both were sold out.
Although the event was explicitly created for middle-aged women, trans and non-binary people, people over the age of 21 are welcome to attend, as long as they do not identify as men.
An attendee shows up and dances to music at an Earlybirds Club party in May.
(Julia Dietz)
“There are enough spaces for men,” says Lee. “Women need safe spaces where no one scares them, flirts with them or makes them feel uncomfortable. At several parties, some attendees have even brought their daughters. This year they have organized 11 parties in Chicago.
When Baginski and Lee reflect on the seemingly rapid success of the Earlybirds Club, they say people are connecting with it because it allows them to take a break from their responsibilities (running the household, raising children, caring for aging parents, and more). and let everything work. everyone on the dance floor.
“This is an underserved age group,” Lee says. “We are invisible in the media and in marketing, which is stupid because we are the ones who [often] control the money in our homes.”
She adds: “[During the] During the pandemic, mothers had to take care of basically everything and there was a lot of stress. So in the end, this is something aimed strictly at middle-aged women. For the first time, people feel seen and heard. It's like, 'Oh, wow.' Here is my community of women who understand me.'”
The Saturday after the presidential election, Baginski and Lee were worried that no one would show up to their party. But when hundreds of people came, they realized how much it was necessary.
“In the current climate, a space like this feels even more essential and almost political, something we never wanted it to be,” says Baginski. “Now it feels like an act of resistance.”
Earlybirds Club will host its first parties in Los Angeles on January 10 at the Sardine in San Pedro and on January 11 at the Virgil near Silver Lake. Admission is $40. Ten percent of all proceeds will go to two Los Angeles-based nonprofits, rainbow services and the Los Angeles LGBT Center (specifically its Trans Wellness Center).
“This is not a scene,” says Baginski, adding that the event “comes as you are.” Attendees wear everything from sequin-filled looks to pajama sets with Ugg slippers. The only thing the duo doesn't recommend wearing are heels “because it's going to hurt,” Baginski jokes.
“It's pure joy, fun and a lot of energy,” he adds. “It's just about women supporting women, creating a safe space to be absolutely ridiculous and dancing like maybe you haven't danced in a long time.”
