No booze, no cost, no judging: Inside Mexico City's free dance parties

Описание: (13 Apr 2025)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4568630

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mexico City, Mexico - 16 March 2025
1. Various of people dancing indoors at New Network of Dancers (NRB) event
2. Various of New Network of Dancers founder Axel Martínez disc jockeying
3. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Axel Martínez, Founder New Network of Dancers (NRB):
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"The New Network of Dancers is the name of a group, a community that was put together, which we say is about philosophy and action and speaks of free dance. Free dance for us has specific principles: a dance without alcohol, a dance without cost, without competitions.”
4. Various of people dancing outside
5. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Ana Celia Agustín, Regular Dancer at NRB Events:
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"We women are a social regulator for violence. Harassment is a form of violence that we experience every day, and being able to reach a space where we feel tranquility, happiness, and respect, above all, gives us a lot of peace”
6. Older couple dancing
7. Various of people dancing
8. Young woman dancing with a hula hoop
9. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Mateo Cruz, Dancer and Member of NRB:
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"I knew a lot about dancing, and my body always mixed it with alcohol, and here I rediscovered a new place, a new way to explore my body. It's been a revelatory experience for me, discovering that I have all this inside me and that I can let go, I can express myself, I can completely free myself from what others think.”
10. People dancing in a circle
11. Various of people dancing outside
STORYLINE:
It's 4 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon, and a pavilion in a Mexico City urban park is nearly packed.

The public is diverse, but everyone here wants the same thing: to dance freely, at no cost, without harassment or prejudice.

Twenty-somethings, children with their mothers, teenagers and elderly couples are carried away by the music, with no one seeming surprised by the moves of others.

From experimental jazz pieces and smooth Egyptian hip-hop to the more familiar pulse of cumbias crossed with a touch of electronic, people dance to it all.

The party was organized by the Nueva Red de Bailadores or NRB (New Network of Dancers), a collective that aims to create spaces where people can gather to dance freely.

There’s no cover charge, no booze, and no pressure to do the "right” moves.

The collective began nine years ago as a simple gathering of friends dancing freely in an apartment.

As word spread, their numbers swelled from 20 to 50, then more than 100, so they had to move to a park.

"The New Network of Dancers is (a community) of philosophy and action,” said Axel Martínez, one of the collective’s founders.

Building on its network of contacts, it has organized some 300 dancing sessions in ever more striking and unexpected spaces, such as old factories and gardens.

The latest NRB party featured two dance floors, one inside and one outside the pavilion, both areas filled with joy and lightness.

As organizers pointed out, their parties forgo police and security, fostering a sense of collective care where attendees look out for one another.

"Being able to come to a space where you feel happiness and respect ... it gives you peace of mind,” said Ana Celia Agustín, 29, a regular at NRB dances.

While social media videos and posts have played a role in promoting the dance parties, word-of-mouth has been key to make them so popular.



Generally, however, these parties feature a more homogenous crowd and musical selection.







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