It is no secret children love to dance and have an abundance of energy to rage with the best of us.
FUZIPOP! has taken notice. The New York based event company has begun putting on dance parties at some of New York’s fanciest nightclubs for children ages 6-12. No need to do a double take, you read that correctly: Ages 6-12. But before you begin to pass judgement, they aren’t just being thrown in with the rest of the late night crowd.
Meeting once a month, typically on Sunday afternoons, FUZIPOP! rents out the same clubs you hear about in the magazines to our tiny brethren and their guardians. And with many nightclubs closed down during the day, this provides the perfect opportunity for a secondary revenue stream.
Check out what FUZIPOP! is all about.
The mission is one that any skeptical parent can get behind when faced with the initial thought of taking their offspring to a club.
FUZIPOP! is:
[…] committed to supporting & educating children about the fine arts and want to provide a creative outlet where they can be who they want to be without being judged.
Founded by parents, producers, and executives who have an extensive familiarity with the electronic dance music industry, FUZIPOP! provides parents and children with the opportunity to participate in dance parties at club all across Manhattan in a safely monitored environment. Free of older ravers, vices, and every other negative misconception associated with the late-night rave scene.
Parents are required to attend the events with their kid at the cost of $20 per hour or $60 for a family of four. This comes complete with the same red carpet, velvet ropes, VIP tables, crystalline glassware, and juice boxes that you would find during a night out at Pacha. Well, maybe not the juice boxes.
Speaking to the premise behind the idea, event founder Jesse Sprague recalls:
This is what we used to do all the time but don’t get to do anymore […] Plus, everyone is always looking for family entertainment and we know the kids will have a blast.
And having a blast they are. FUZIPOP! events come complete with everything you would find at any typical rave: glowsticks, thumping bass, and even its’ own nine-year-old resident DJ (okay, maybe not the last part).
Why FUZIPOP! is good for EDM
We have all seen it. That group of children at EDM festivals that looks too young to be there. You are left wondering, “Where are their parents?” while feeling an obligation to keep an eye out for them and make sure they are having a fun, yet safe, time. While the EDM community does a fantastic job spreading those PLUR vibes and looking out for their own, festivals where there are tens of thousands of attendees may not be the best platform for the EDM youth to be introduced to the culture. While my first rave was an unforgettable, amazing experience, I remember being dropped in with my group of friends without any knowledge or expectations and being left with an initial sense of shock, asking “What did I get myself in to?”
I have seen many ravers and festival-goers who are in it just for the party. Though this definitely is not the majority, this subculture still exists.
FUZIPOP! allows children to become exposed to nightclubs and EDM in a safe environment under direct supervision of their parents at an age where their dancing is fueled by their intrinsic love of music. I would wager that if more people experience the music through this means of exposure, the community would continue to flourish, even more so than it is already.
Instead of asking, “What the …?,” I say welcome little ravers. PLUR on!
