Tickets can be purchased through awakeboston.com and are $21 for yoga, or $16 for just the dance party. A portion of ticket sales will be donated to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. The Oberon, 2 Arrow St. Cambridge, MA. LIVING
ments at these dance parties do so in a very different way from most stereotypical club and concert drinks. All of the refreshments are selected deliberately to help cultivate the healthful experience dreamed up by Porcaro and King as an alternative to what is the norm at raves, festivals, and concerts. At Awake Boston, smoothies, tea, coffee, and energy drinks as well as snacks help you start your day and power through it. Even better, they all come with the cost of admission. Despite the early start time, Awake Boston has seen a consistent outpouring of people willing to test out their unique way of working out. For many people, the class replaces their morning trip to the gym before heading to an office job. Given that most day jobs aren’t terribly thrilling, it makes sense that King and Porcaro’s venture would be seen as enticing, even if it means setting the alarm clock extra early. The history behind Awake Boston is just as unusual as the sunrise dance parties that have come out of it. King, 27, of Manchester, New Hampshire and Porcaro, 24, of Medfield, Massachusetts, had both left behind undergraduate degrees, jobs, and life as they knew it to explore southeast Asia. After months of backpacking separately, the two met while working as waitresses on a beach on Koh Rong Island in Cambodia in exchange for room and board. Like any good adventure story,
they had their share of difficulties— such as a scarcity of running water-- and their happiness: “We danced until the sun came up,” says King. With that dancing, however, came a realization that many people they knew were using drugs and alcohol to a risky extent. “We realized that there has to be another way to tap into the freeing energy of dance, connection, movement, and community,” King recalls. Inspired by a similar event in London, the two conceptualized Awake Boston in February 2014 as the way to do just that. The inaugural Awake Boston took place on September 18, 2014 and has already evolved since then. The event has switched venues, from Umbria Prime to the Oberon, and has kept a steady income of participants. The founders are always looking for ways to grow their program for the better. This month, that comes in the form of Awake Boston’s collaboration with ToUch Performance Art. “We are encouraging everyone to put forth ideas or talents that they are interested in seeing. We want this event to be something special, unique, and tailored to the people of Boston,” says Porcaro. While open to meeting their participants at events, the Awake Boston website and Facebook are also effective ways to communicate with the women who started the experience themselves.
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