Once a month, the Boulder Theater puts on an event called opening its doors to hoards of parents and kids looking to dance the afternoon away to music better suited to adult tastes than Raffi's latest stylings. Heather Murphy Monteith, a dancer and mother of two, started throwing disco parties for kids in Philadelphia in 2004, and the concept has since spread across the country. I went to check out the Boulder version with my seven-month-old on Saturday.
The was packed with families looking for something for their kids to do as frigid temperatures continue. I hadn't taken my daughter out of the house since Wednesday, and judging from the way the kids were tearing around the dance floor, she wasn't the only one going stir crazy this winter.
Machines on the stage blew bubbles into the air, disco lights danced across the ceiling, and dozens of red balloons decorated the theater.
The DJ, who wore an impassive expression and performed the requisite into-the-groove head nod, blasted dance club hits from the '70s and '80s: The Commodores' "Brick House," Diana Ross' "Upside Down," Michael Jackson's classic, yet creepy "Pretty Young Thing." A slim young woman with a shiny belt danced on stage, leading the kids, occasionally issuing calls to party ("Where are my awesome three-and-four year-olds?") or initiating games of freeze dance.
But the kids didn't need much leading. With gauzy "dance scarves," noisy shakers, and hula hoops positioned around the floor, the kids knew what to do, dancing, crawling, performing acrobatic feats on the hand rails, attaching the scarves as capes, and zooming back and forth to the sugary spread provided by Wild Oats. There were buckets and bowls of all-natural cookies on every table, juice boxes, and chips and dips, proving that if there's enough sugar involved, even organic food can put kids into a panic.
The food was tasty, especially if you didn't think about all the grubby little hands that had likely pawed it before you got to it. ("You've got to eat the one that you touch," I heard a dad explain to his daughter as she reached into a vat of cookies.)
There were also a couple chill-out areas, filled with tents, pillows, books, and toys.
My only gripe with the event is that the music was too loud, the volume as high as it would have been for an adult concert at the theater, too much for young ears, and the chill-out sections were no quieter.
It was clear that the adults at "Baby Loves Disco" were as anxious to get out of the house as the kids were, and at a rather steep $12 a ticket for "all walking humans," they took pains to get their money's worth, dancing with their kids around the floor. The bar was open for business, but I didn't see too many people tossing back alcohol--that's what you do after the kids are in bed.
My daughter was extremely excited when we arrived--I could tell by the way she flapped her arms like she wanted to take flight, followed the lights on the ceiling with her eyes, and bounced up and down to the music. But she soon succumbed to the allure of a paper plate and wasn't much interested when I offered her a dance scarf. Kids in the 2-to-6 age range seemed to be having the best time.
My daughter clearly enjoyed herself, but grew overwhelmed at the noise and commotion after about an hour, her eyes going glassy. She dropped off to sleep in the car on the way home, working in one more nap than she usually takes. Then it was back to winter house arrest, as I tax my creativity to come up with new games until the temperatures crawl above the teens and we can enjoy the outside world again.
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