Dance, Shower, Retinol, Bed

At some point in my twenties, 10:00 p.m. was when the night officially began. 

One recent Saturday I was freshly showered, face serum applied, my favorite ‘90s tunes ringing in my ears, and sliding into bed thinking at 10:00 p.m. thinking …that was one of the most fun nights I’ve had in years.

The plot twist? This was a dance party for women in midlife and beyond that starts at 6:30 pm and wraps up in time to get home before the nightly news. The event is called Earlybirds Club and the tagline says it all, “A Dance Party for Ladies With Sh*t to Do in the Morning.” 

Oh, they know me so well. 

Founded in 2024, by Chicagoans Laura Baginski and Susie Lee, this traveling dance party has already hosted 45 sold out, women-only “raves” in 15 cities across the U.S. And bonus, a portion of the proceeds from each party go to support a local women’s nonprofit. It’s the perfect combination of good times and good works with some classic girlpower in action. 

The Moment It Clicked

My girlfriends and I went on a lark–totally prepared for the evening to feel like a sad rendition of a middle school dance. But the moment we walked into the venue and saw 500+ women who looked like us dancing to “Bust a Move” by Young MC, we realized just how much we needed this. 

From the first song, we were all in…singing at the top of our lungs, dancing like it was 1999, and fully committed in a way that only happens when the soundtrack is your own history.

The Energy Was There (But the Moves Were Different) 

Song after song we danced like we used to…almost. There was markedly less jumping, no one did the worm, and there was a lot more swaying than booty shaking. The spirit was the same, but the delivery had shifted to accommodate the realities of later life. And the energy in the room? That’s the part I loved the most.

There’s something about being surrounded by women who are completely at ease with themselves. No one was trying to impress or look like the hot, sexy thing who was bound to go home with the bartender. We were just fully in it, laughing easily, singing loudly, and making eye contact with strangers signaling, yes, we’re doing this.

The Footwear Revelation 

At one point, I let my eyes wander away from the strobe lights and bubble machines to take a peak at the chosen footwear for the evening.

Sneakers. Every single one of us.

Unlike our previous club-hopping years, there was not a stiletto in sight. No one was teetering. No one was sitting out a song because their feet had given up on them. We were just women who came to dance and made the very strategic decision to opt for comfort.

It might be the most practical revolution I’ve ever witnessed.

The Exit That Made It All Work

By 9:30 p.m. my friends and I were back out on the street wading through a stream of Ubers,  watching women head to a parking lot, overrun with minivans…all of us laughing about how this used to be the hour we were just getting started. Now it felt like we had lived an entire night and lived it well.

At home, I stepped into the shower, not to rinse off cigarette smoke and spilled drinks, but because I had worked up a real sweat. My body felt stretched and tested in the best possible way. And a few minutes later, I was well on my way to eight hours of blissful sleep with no blisters and no next-day recovery plan.

This Is What Fun Looks Like Now

There’s a tendency to frame this stage of life as a series of things we’ve outgrown, like late nights, dance floors, random conversations waiting to use the ladies’ room, and spontaneity that is often tamped down by hesitation. 

But maybe the truth is simpler. We didn’t outgrow the fun. We outgrew the way it was packaged. Give it back to us on better terms, and we’re all in.

So yes, try the new thing, even if it sounds like something you gave up on decades ago. Sometimes the most surprising discovery is that something old still works.

If Earlybirds Club shows up anywhere near you, go! And if it doesn’t? That might be your cue to tie on your dancing sneakers and click on an ‘80s playlist. After all, you don’t need a nightclub. 

You just need a room, good music, a few women who are willing to go all in, and the understanding that being home by 10:00 p.m. might be the most brilliant part of the whole thing.

Patty is the founder of The Brilliant Age, a lifestyle platform for women navigating later life and beyond with curiosity, style, and intention. Through thoughtful essays on reinvention, personal style, relationships, and purposeful living later in life, she encourages women to question outdated rules and design lives that feel vibrant and true. Patty also writes Spark 60, a weekly one-minute dose of inspiration delivered every Wednesday. Explore more at The-Brilliant-Age.com, follow on Instagram and Facebook and start living your most brilliant chapter yet.