Circuit party
| Circuit party (disco party) | |
|---|---|
| General Information | |
| Related genres | Electronic music, disco, electronic dance music, house music, techno |
| Location | Worldwide |
| Related events | Music festival, rave, electronic dance music festivals, teknival, technoparade |
| Related topics | Live electronic music, LGBT culture, clubbing |
A circuit party is a large dance event. It extends through the night and into the following day, almost always with a number of affiliated events in the days leading up to and following the main event. Proto-circuit parties in the late 1970s, the precursors of what later became circuit parties, were called disco parties. They lasted only one evening and were held in various large venues in metropolitan areas with large gay populations.
Circuit parties were first developed in connection with the early tea dances attended by a subset of gay men, as well as theme parties held on Fire Island, in the days after police abuse and before the beginning of the health crisis of HIV/AIDS. They came to resemble underground rave parties in some respects, but differ in that circuit parties are highly publicized and professionally produced, and tend to attract people from a wider age range and a broader geographic area.
The start of the circuit has been attributed to many different parties that sprang up during the time-frame of the late 1970s and early 1980s. These proto-circuit parties in the late 1970s, the precursors of what later became circuit parties, were called disco parties. They lasted one evening only, and were held in various large venues in metropolitan areas with large gay populations. Although Flamingo and 12 West were New York clubs that had theme-centered gay parties, these nightclubs were eclipsed by the opening of the mega-nightclub, The Saint, in the East Village in 1980. This members-only male (with very limited exceptions) club was very technologically advanced. Some say its like has not been recreated since.
The Saint, which was constructed inside the renovated space that had once housed the renowned Fillmore East theatre, featured a dome-covered dance floor, the dome being suspended in mid-air, and a complete planetarium mechanism that projected a starscape onto the dome above the dance floor. While open every weekend beginning in September, The Saint's once monthly parties became marathon events that drew gay men from around the world. These parties created the concept of a single party being the focal point for a weekend get-away in the gay community.
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