To infinite love and beyond!
The Bushwick Starr is celebrating the new year by throwing a series of adult sleepover parties in its black box theater space, every Friday and Saturday night between Jan. 11 and Feb. 2. “The Infinite Love Party” will be a barefoot, queer-friendly, and sober dance party that also includes a potluck dinner, finger and body painting, a mix of planned and impromptu performances, and a space for people to generally be loving towards each other, according to its organizer.
“It’s the wedding of my dreams, getting a room full of people to marry each other,” said performance artist and musician Diana Oh.
The marriage is only metaphorical, said Oh, but participants will share cooking duties (meal courses will be assigned according to your Zodiac sign when you register), and are encouraged to donate items for a clothing swap. Party guests can also sign up to perform during the open-mic portion of the show.
Upon entry, guests will be asked to put their thumbprint on a “code of community” that promises to “honor the space and take care of the people and things inside of it” in order to ensure respectful treatment, Oh said.
“This is a real group of people throwing an adult sleep over. We want liberation, but we don’t want peeing in the corner,” she said.
Along with Oh, a group of “Super Queero Heart Questers” will join the dance party, help guide people through the evening, and give their own short performances. Each night they will also award a “Dope M———–” prize to a person or organization that has worked to improve life for the queer community or for other liberation movements.
The sleepover is BYOB (bring your own blanket), starts when the event winds down at 11 pm, and lasts until check out at 10 am the next morning, according to Oh.
The party organizer, who previously worked on “The Lingerie Play,” a provocative street protest against sexual harassment, said that she was inspired by some of her favorite nights out in the city.
“I’ve thrown parties at my house before and my friends have thrown really radical wild parties and I’ve made performances, installations, and concerts, but this is the first time that I’ve ever thrown a party within a setting that is a theater space,” she said.
“The Infinite Love Party” is designed to be a beacon of positivity and compassion for the new year, said Oh, and a respite from these turbulent times.
“Everyone’s a social justice activist these days and the burnout can be very real if we’re angry all the time. This party came out of this space to provide nourishment for people at the start of 2019 and it can hold laughter, tears, and vulnerability,” she said.
“Infinite Love Party” at the Bushwick Starr [207 Starr St., between Wyckoff and Irving avenues in Bushwick, (917) 623–9669, www.thebu
