My Baby Loves Disco...Does Yours?

After we'd lived in Brooklyn a few months I was talking with some neighborhood moms about things to do with kids and one of them told me about Baby Loves Disco. It was white hot new at the time (2005) and right up my alley.
The concept: one Saturday afternoon each month a real nightclub turns into a disco for munchkins, complete with a live DJ spinning 70's and 80's classics, healthy snacks, diaper changing stations, and fun dance gear like scarves, egg shakers and hula hoops.

From the website: "Started by professional dancer (and professional mom) Heather Murphy in Philadelphia, the idea was to create an alternative to the pre-packaged world of entertainment for young kids. 'We’re parents, we’re always looking for something new and different to do with the kids,' says Murphy whose lifestyle (like most of the baby disco parents) was changed when she gave birth to her 4 year old son Max. Make no mistake, this is NOT the Mickey Mouse club, and Barney is banned." Brooklyn was the second location to get its groove on, and from there it has spread like wildfire to 28 U.S. cities as well as Israel, Japan, Holland, Sweden, Poland and the U.K.

So I looked up the dates and put it on the calendar every month for two years and Ed was either working or there was some other conflict every time. Then Ginger was born and I gave up the hope of ever being a cool mom who did stuff like taking my kids to a disco dance party. Survival became the name of my game, and soon BLD fell off my radar.

So how do you think I felt when Beth Blenz-Clucas of Sugar Mountain PR, after reading my blog, contacted me to see if I would be interested in reviewing Baby Loves Disco in DC? Control, our radar is back on. I was over the moon and told her, "Put us on the list!" Of course after I'd committed, I learned Ed would be out of town at a conference, but no matter. I called our trusty babysitter Alicia, and while I could tell from her voice she thought I was crazy when I explained to her where we were going, she agreed to come with us.

So last Saturday the girls donned their dance skirts and we loaded into the car, Google directions in hand, and headed into the city, to the chants of "Dance Party! Dance Party!" I don't know DC well enough to know how scared I should have been in the NE neighborhood where the club (Rock and Roll Hotel) was located, so I tried not to think about it as we walked the 3 blocks from our parking space. The garbage, pigeons, and potholes made it feel like we were right back in Brooklyn, actually.

The place was rockin'. Imagine, if you will, a typical night club. Black walls, full bar with shelves of hard liquor, a stage at one end, a DJ cage and lots of flashing lights. (Kind of like the places in Georgetown I used to sneak into in high school.) Now add to that scene a roped off stroller parking area outside, a spread of juice boxes, goldfish and muffins on the bar, ceiling mounted bubble machines on a 10-minute timer, baskets of egg shakers and dancing scarves, mini tents and hula hoops on the stage, balloon animals taped up on the walls, and of course the ultimate necessity: a king-sized disco ball, and you've got Baby Loves Disco.
There were parents and kids of all shapes and sizes, and in addition to the DJ spinning classics such as Night Fever and YMCA not-too-loud-but-just-loud-enough, an MC (didn't catch his name) announcing dance competitions and the winners of freeze-dance (we tried, we honestly tried.)He also mentioned the VIP room upstairs, so we went to check it out. What we found was another bar and even more food - a tablecloth had been draped over the pool table, and there were fresh fruits and veggies, hummus and pita chips, more muffins and brownies, chips and salsa, and more juice boxes. We found a "quiet room" full of stuffed animals, couches and changing stations. There was a nail-painting corner, Greta Gonzalez was offering free face painting (I didn't want to wait in the line or deal with the mess), and a balloon master from BalloonTopia was making free balloon animals (Hazel got a frog but he didn't last long.) It was also more quiet and cool upstairs, a nice break from the disco inferno the downstairs had become once the morning nap crowd started showing up.But we'd come to dance so dance we did. Hazel was all about it, especially when the bubble machines came on. She's really got more of a gallop than a boogie but it's her thing. Ginger was a little overwhelmed by things and wanted to be held most of the time but she did get down and shake her squeezy buns for a few songs. Overall it was an awesome success, well worth the calculated nap manipulations I'd orchestrated for two days in preparation. Alicia even loved it.
Jealous? You should be. It's a great time, and probably even more fun to do with friends (I'm still working on getting those here.) It's in Brooklyn and Manhattan, Seattle and Portland, Chicago and Boulder. It's even in six cities in the UK for you expats, so get your rears over there and let's see the pictures. But if your town doesn't have it yet, don't despair. You can bring it there yourself (or better yet, get a friend to do it) - email Erica to get the ball rolling. (Utah could especially use it, and can you say...Culpeper?)

He's Still Got It

I'd been Waiting for That Day for a long time, as you well know. Tuesday was a Hard Day to get through but in the evening my Mother's Pride and Father Figure came over to watch the girls, and we had the Freedom to go to the George Michael concert!

After we'd been Waiting 45 minutes, the dark stadium lit with sparks floating dreamily down the digital screen. A soaring rendition of Waiting (reprise), being sung from back stage, froze me in my seat until at the end and climax, when a door opened in the middle of the screen, and George himself walked through just in time for the final line: "HERE I AM!" (If you are unfamiliar with this song, listen on the sidebar to get a feel for what it was like.)

Screams, applause, lit cell phone screens being waved in lieu of lighters (it's been a loooong time since I went to a concert.) The slightly aged and much gay audience gave the sexy superstar a resounding welcome, letting him know, "You Have Been Loved," for 25 years. He asked To Be Forgiven for taking 20 years to return to Washington, but promised that by the end of Tonight he'd make it up to us. I'd say he did.

An eclectic set of disco, soul, pop and ballads filled the evening. I was up and dancing Freestyle as much As I was comfortable doing until about song 5 or 6 when he broke into a seriously booty-shaking Everything She Wants, complete with diamond-studded disco balls on the big screens and lots of audience singing - "SOMEBODY TELL ME, WHY I WORK SO HARD FOR YOU!" (To give you money, woo, to give you money...) That's when I, and much of the rest of the crowd save Ed and the other husband/boyfriend I was sitting by that had obviously been drug there by his female, let loose in a serious way.

George, his 6 black-clad back-up singers, and huge band stacked vertically on platforms, played for an hour, took a 20-minute break, during which Ed was so hot in his work clothes he had to go Outside, then played another hour. Our seats were decent, though not close enough for a good camera phone picture. However, we'd dug out and brought Ed's elk hunting nocs so I was able to sit on George's lap for some of the songs. A couple of his dance songs were a little Too Funky (and a little too gay) for my taste but I love his voice so much I'm not complaining. Perhaps the highlight of the evening for me was a gorgeous version of The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, sung simply from a stool on stage in purple and white spotlights.

I knew it could hardly get any better when he came out dancing in a police uniform, complete with aviator shades and fingerless leather gloves, so I was hardly surprised when he bid us goodnight after that number. More screaming, more lit cell phone screens being waved for an encore, just One More Try. He came out and sang Careless Whisper for us. More screaming, more cell phones. Waiting. Waiting. Finally he returned to grant us A Last Request. He asked, "If you could have your pick of any song you want to hear, what would it be?" Thousands of voices answered in unison: FREEDOM! Obviously every American crowd had said the same thing and he was well-prepared. What an Amazing song to round out the concert! Most of our row had left so I had 10 seats to make my moves in, with Ed conservatively clapping the beat nearby. Animated rainbows dancing all over the screens. Happy, energized, beer-buzzed people dancing like crazy. It was a night to remember. He Healed the Pain, he Knew I Was Waiting for Him, and I was glad he spent A Moment with Me.

After the final finale we had to hustle home, Praying for Time to get our car out of the garage in Rosslyn before it closed at midnight. The night can be summed up by a comment I overheard a twenty-something tell her friend as we walked out of the stadium: "He is so hot...and he's old."

Ladies and gents, he's still got it. And so have I.

Disco Honors to Matt

I liked this very, very much. (Thanks to Elizabeth for passing it on.)


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

The outtakes video is almost as good.

I am so TOTALLY Disco Mom

In case there was any doubt.

For Mother's Day Ed gave me a card that said we're going out Saturday night, dress nice. I gathered we were going to a Broadway show but didn't know which one. I do love a surprise. We went to dinner first and he asked me if I wanted to know, or just be surprised when we got there. I wanted the surprise because I didn't even care what we were seeing and would like anything.

So as we walked down 44th Street the marquis began to come into view.
"Phantom?" I asked, looked sideways at him.
"Nope." We kept walking.
"Spamalot?"
"Uh-uh."
We passed under a construction scaffolding over the sidewalk and watched our step around some cars entering a lot. Then I looked up and just knew. There, up ahead, the rainbow bright beacon called to me:


That's right, I know, it's OK to start singing the song out loud. I'd heard it was fabulous, and had a hard time believing it, knowing how terrifically awful the movie is. But anyway what could be more fun than a night of roller skates and disco balls?

As soon as we entered the theater I felt the energy level rise. There was a guy selling glow sticks for $1 that we could use to participate in the final number. I ignored Ed's cringe as I bought two. I knew he was having fun watching me be excited.

The theater was pretty small and we had awesome seats. It's true the play has the same basic storyline as the movie - ancient Greek muse Kira comes out of a sidewalk chalk drawing to inspire frustrated 1980's artist Sonny Malone to create the ultimate artistic achievement, a roller disco, and along the way she falls into forbidden love with him.

Luckily it breaks from the movie early on by infusing the story with more threads, and thus substance. Having excellently talented singers/actors helps as well. But the real charm comes from what can only happen on live stage, and especially live stage spoofing a horrible movie - the comedic interaction between the audience and performers, and the private joke we were all in on together: that the whole thing is ridiculous, so let's have fun with it. I loved Kira's purposely bad Australian accent, the conniving evil muse sisters' unexpected improv comments that had the audience roaring, and of course the finale, complete with glow sticks, lots of metallic spandex and over 50 disco balls ranging in size from an apple to my double stroller. It was funny, it was sweet, it was rockin' 80's disco. It was the ultimate night out.

After all, as we learn at the end, the ultimate gift of XANADU is just what I had: artistic creation and someone to love.

I Really Am Disco Mom

DISCO. Many images does this word evoke. There's the music. Dig it. There are the clothes. Polyester. Love it. There's the lifestyle. Sex, drugs, mirror balls, girly hair. And there's the dancing. Work it. Disco was peaking about the time I was born, so it was just passe enough to be a little funny and alternative when I hit the teenage years, and I formed a fondness for it. I even middle-named my daughter Xanadu (before seeing the film, which is TERRIBLE. Luckily that's not the origin of the name so there is some redemption in Samuel Coleridge's poem. But back to disco.)

And of course what one single movie comes to mind when you hear DISCO? What cult classic gives perfect homage to all things DISCO?

A few weeks ago AMC was showing Saturday Night Fever. I'd owned the soundtrack on vinyl years ago, and now own it on cd, but I'd never seen the whole film all the way through. So I sat down to at least watch the beginning. I knew it was about a Brooklynite, and I'd heard the first scene, where Tony is walking down the street with a can of paint, was filmed on 86th Street in Bensonhurst, which is where our church is. So I thought it would be fun to see that part, and sure enough it was Bensonhurst and not much has changed in 30 years. He stops to buy a double decker slice of pizza and I said to Ed, "That pizza place could be in our neighborhood. There's a million like that around here." We watched on, to the part where Tony goes home after work. He's shown walking down the sidewalk to his family's house, and again, I said to Ed, "That house could be in Bay Ridge (our neighborhood.) That looks just like the houses in Bay Ridge." We watched about the first half hour and decided to stop wasting our time when things got pretty raunchy that first night at the dance club. But the Italian family dinner scene was a real treat, a perfect example of how people, as well as places, don't change much around here. I kept it to myself that time, but I could have told Ed that family could be in our neighborhood.

A few days later the girls decided to desynchronize their naps, so I was entertaining Ginger while Hazel napped in the afternoon, and I flipped on the TV. AMC was showing it again, and as luck would have it there was about 25 minutes left, including the big dance competition. So I missed the middle, but caught the end, and it surprised me. Tony & partner of course won the dance competition but he became disgusted with the results and gave the prize to the couple he thought was better. Then he and his friends who were all doped up went and played on the Verrazano Bridge, which is mere blocks from my house and featured in our 2006 Christmas card pictures. That really caught my attention. One of his friends falls off and dies - unexpected dramatic turn - and they are shown with police on a path under the bridge that we go walking on some Sunday afternoons. Tony spends a soul-searching night riding the subway and determines to get out of the vicious cycle his life has become.

After seeing the bridge at the end of the movie, I thought, wow, I'm really living where it happened. (I say "happened" as if it's real, you know what I mean.) And guess what - I really am. Movie-locations indicates that most of the movie was filmed right here in Bay Ridge, including Tony's house, about 15 blocks from where I live. I had no idea I was right in the middle of it, albeit 30 years later. "Disco Mom" was a fun super-hero kind of title I chose for myself, but now I feel like I can really claim it, and I do.

I am Disco Mom.

(And speaking of Brooklyn movies, see my very favorite.)