Love to dance, but want to avoid sticky floors, crowds of people who are drinking and late nights? Allie Bruni, aka DJ Spanda, has the solution.
Once a month, at Alchemy Studio, she hosts Dance Church. The rules are simple, no phones, no talking, no touching, just dancing.
“It’s really important for people to have a place to move their bodies, to dance and to feel a sense of belonging in a setting that isn’t the typical club environment,” said Rebecca Marchildon, owner of Alchemy Studio.
Lexie Ast is a loyal attendee of the event. She said, in an email, that dancing has always been a form of self expression for her, however, she set it aside while starting a family and becoming a mom became her identity.
Though the lights, music and letting go to dance are still appealing, the rest of the club scene isn’t.
“I don’t like the whole drunk people scene and dodging people who are there to talk and try to dance with you,” she said.
Dance Church removes the pressure of socializing. Add the music by Bruni, the dark room which is only lit by candles and fairy lights and the no contact rule, and Ast said it is the perfect environment to reconnect with her body and her love for dancing.
“Dance church for me has been a spiritual reawakening,” she said.
And that opportunity, to just dance, is what Bruni was hoping to bring to Revelstoke.
Not only is it a safe, drug and alcohol free space, it brings together like-minded people she said. Dance can be a radical form of self expression, on top of music and dance being powerful and emotional things.
Bruni, who is from Northern California, said that Dance Church and other similar events are extremely popular in the U.S.A. She used to attend events in Santa Cruise and San Francisco, saying it just felt so good to move and not talk to anyone.
That feeling you get when you are dancing and no one is looking and you aren’t worried about being flirted with, when you are in your own zone, Bruni said that is what she wanted to share.
Though the point is to dance, Bruni has been inviting healing arts folks to lightly lead the sessions. This month, on March 6, Polly Triplat, an Open Floor Teacher who guides people into creating dance through musicality with movement and creative inquiry, will be gently leading the event.
The music is really important to Dance Church. Bruni starts slow and melodic and gradually builds until the music becomes more potent, just like nature, ourselves and our bodies, she said.
Dance Church is the first Saturday of every month from 7:30 p.m.-8:45 p.m., and there is a $10 drop in fee. Marchildon said that she is proud to offer a place to share those vibes, that isn’t serving alcohol.
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