Quarantine Party Box
Dancing under LOCKDOWN
Written and Photographed by Rick Perez
New York City’s Femme Fatale threw the ultimate stay-at-home digital dance party for NO PANIC FEST 2020. Rick Perez documented the experience from his living room.
Los Angeles, USA
I love partying. I love dancing. I love being in the middle of a crowded dance floor with lights and sweat and beats making me two-step all over the place. Like so many of my peers, being quarantined meant missing out on parties and other nightlife activities. When New York City DJ Jessica Louise Dye suggested that her party, Femme Fatale, put on an online shin-dig as part of NO PANIC FEST 2020, I was on board and curious to see how it would turn out.
The party was scheduled on a Friday night at 8pm EST, which means 5pm here in Los Angeles. I took some dark sheets and put them over my living room window to block out the sun and set up LED lights with different colored gels; I was making my house into my own private nightclub. My boyfriend Edgar and I put on our Friday night outfits, made some cocktails, typed in the ZOOM meeting link and passcode on his laptop, and entered Femme Fatale’s Digital Dance Party.
Using the ZOOM application for the first time, it was a little confusing at first. There were several boxes on the screen, each showing people who were also tuned in. Jess and her boyfriend were in one of the party boxes, both looking fabulous and spinning tunes that we couldn’t hear. As soon as Jess saw Edgar and I enter the party, she held up a sign to another link that we had to enter to listen to the set. Once that was set up, disco rhythms flowed through the speakers and we were officially in party mode.
Edgar and I took shots, ate some edibles, and danced our hearts out. In the party boxes were co-hosts Devin Caskie and Rich Allen of Bloodless Management and some of my New York City friends made appearances. My roommates came down and joined the dance party and put on some trippy visuals through their projector, adding to the nightclub atmosphere.
After three hours of dancing, everyone in the party boxes waved goodbye and we exited the Zoom. The experience was way more fun than I had expected. I was in the comfort of my own home and was able to create my own vibe. Every party box had their own vibe as well: some people were cooking, some created an atmosphere like us, and others just watched or did other things. This online party allowed every person to party in their own way and I’m all for that. I was also able to party with my friends from New York while in California, something I had never done before.
Although quarantine has shut down nightlife as we know it, parties like Femme Fatale lets us have fun and connect with others in this new way of living. Who knows how long we will be in lockdown, but as long as I can have a party box I think I’ll be okay.
