Daybreaker Wakes You Up Every Weekend With a Virtual Dance Party

You may not be in the mood for a dance party, but that’s all the more reason to get up early and join one. Grounding activities are the antithesis to screen time, which we’ve all been getting too much of in the last few weeks, because of Zoom meetings, Netflix binges, and news coverage. Participating in creative, physical diversions stimulates the parts of your brain stagnating in quarantine, and grounds your days. Like dancing. If you’re lacking the motivation to curate a perfect dance party playlist, don’t worry, there’s a community to help. Daybreaker is the virtual dance party that you’ll want to wake up early to join.

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Live Safari?! LET’S GET WILD. To shed our inhibitions and wake up our primal senses, we’re embarking on a global safari from the carpeted plains of our Living-Room-Savannas. So whether you’re feeling your inner Tiger King or more like the Cool-Cats-and-Kittens this Saturday, unleash your wild side with us for Daybreaker LIVE, Episode 4: ANIMAL HOUSE PARTY. Here’s what’s up — + @elenabrower is leading our yoga flow + DJ @eangolden is leading the booty shaking + @emilystellafletcher is connecting us to breath with a @zivameditation Oh yeah—it’ll be panda-monium. So start turning your house into your fave animal habitat , pre-funk with a lil' Discovery channel and lock in your early(ish) bird tix before they're gone! P.S. Comment with an emoji of your fave animal #daybreaker #daybreakerLIVE

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Started at Dawn, Now They’re Here

The idea launched all the way back in 2013 when founders Radha Agrawal and Matt Brimer wanted to make New York City, the loneliest city on Earth, feel a little less isolating. They created an energizing, sober way to begin their day by dancing with their friends before dawn. The movement, dubbed Daybreaker, has grown over the past 7 years. It’s expanded to cities across the world with multi-generational, community-driven events. When the pandemic forced people apart and into their homes, Daybreaker went virtual.

There’s a very secret-club feeling to Daybreaker: you text a number to opt into their text updates about when the next virtual party will take place. They come with a theme, like Disco, Salsa, or Garden of Neon, and every dance party begins with an hour of yoga and fitness before two hours of dancing. When it’s tough to find reasons to get out of bed or change out of your comfy clothes, joining Daybreaker is ambitious and focused. Put together a theme-appropriate outfit, and clear a space in your home. Because of the worldwide nature of the virtual parties, you may not even have to get up pre-dawn to join. The events usually take place on Saturdays, with times around midday EST.

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Spring break cancelled? BEACH, PLEASE. Fam—on SATURDAY, APRIL 4TH, you’re invited to crank the temperature up for a staycation with a sea of dancing friends. ‘Cause for our second round of Daybreaker LIVE, we’re gonna swim into our global LOVEstream and tropic like it’s hot. So BYOPF (Bring Your Own Pool Floaties ), wear your hawtest bathing suit (#speedodad), warm up those beach bums and prepare for a full-throttle virtual spring break getaway. Who’s down to go surfin’ the World Wide Web with us? Let’s make some waves, y’all. Snag tix via the link in our bio! #daybreaker #daybreakerLIVE #springbreak #livestream : @ajrphotos

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How to Get in on the Party

Tickets range in price, with early-bird specials offering a discount, and during the pandemic, there’s a Pay What You Can option at check out for those undergoing financial hardship. As cities reopen, the meetup dance parties will return during the summer. For those, Daybreaker recently told the New York Times that they’ll limit the number of participants and maintain six feet between dancers.

In the meantime, the virtual parties are a safe way to shake free the neurochemicals responsible for feeling good, which Agrawal dubbed D.O.S.E (dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphin). Combining deep yoga with dancing helps your brain release those chemicals, which also have health and wellness benefits. The start of 2020 has been a doozy, so why not check out for a few hours and dance like no one is watching? Because in insolation, no one is.