The music is thumping, the lights are low and a group of women of all ages, shapes and sizes is dancing in a loose circle.
Suddenly, the music shifts and the women spontaneously form a conga line. Later, during another song, they spontaneously line up like Rockettes, only not like those famous U.S. dancers because these Â鶹Éç¹ú²úwomen don't match—and likely don't care to.
Over the course of the three-hour event, women dance alone or together. Some take to a corner to chat.
Laughter and encouraging choruses of "Whoot!" interrupt the conversation.
The only male in sight is the DJ.
By the end of the night, the 20 women in attendance, some of whom didn't know each other when the night began, are sweaty and smiling. Some, including this reporter, have made plans to meet up to walk with their new friends when the weather is better.
This is Ladies' Night Out put on by Village Vibe Collective at Match Eatery & Public House.
It is a judgment-free zone, where women can come together, without the male gaze, and dance and socialize freely, its organizer says.
Annissa Adams hosts the nights with her DJ partner, Patrick Mallan, who owns.
(Adams' main business is .)
The accepting, carefree vibe of the event is deliberate, says Adams.
How it started
The pair have a "wild" backstory, with previous struggles, including dissolved relationships and the pandemic, which didn't lend itself to their event-dependent business.
They came out from Ontario to Â鶹Éç¹ú²úfor a fresh start.
They had sold all they owned and ended up living in their minivan with their young son in the Walmart parking lot for a good stretch.
“When we got here, we were homeless,” Adams says, noting it was not an RV, but a minivan.
“I think it was the first time that I actually understood as a woman that I needed to receive help instead of always being the person who's giving and giving and helping and helping,” she said. “It was such a humbling experience, because I walked into PearlSpace and I, like, collapsed,” she recalled, getting emotional.
“So, it was in those couple of months … where we entered into a community that didn't know us, but gathered around us.”
Fast forward five years and they have a stable life and home, but are changed because of it.
Adams said she hopes sharing their story gives others hope too.
“The past is what has given us this present and our vision for what we want for the future and I think that resilience needs to be shared. Our world is a bit of a dumpster fire and people are going through it—I think our wild ride gives people hope,” Adams said.
Getting from where they were to now, took "resilience and a lot of following the signs."
"I think [signs] are everywhere, and I think we ignore them. And if there's anything you get from this story that we can offer people, it's follow the signs and the things that you feel align with you."
They were helped to get on their feet by a community of people in Â鶹Éç¹ú²úand so when they sat down to figure out what they wanted to make of their life here, community building was the answer.
How it is going
"Another big thing was [creating] a village," Adams said. "We call ourselves, Village Vibe Collective, because my mom grew up in Guyana, which is in South America, in a small village—everybody knew everybody. It reminds me so much of this [place]. I never lived there, but obviously, the beliefs that I grew up within were a very village-like mentality."
With their collective talent, the couple started to hold local Family Dance Parties, which included up to 140 attendees, at Brennan Park Recreation Centre (before the space was closed for renovations).
The idea for ladies' nights came from seeing the moms of kids at the dance parties and realizing they likely needed a space to let go, too.
And a place to "fill their cups" after giving to others all day.
"What we do is we bring people together, and we offer them this very safe, empowering space where they can just feel free and just be. The whole idea is just to be."
She praised the general manager at Match, too, for helping create a safe and positive environment for women to let loose.
But she and Mallan play the largest part in creating that safety. Mallan switches up the music if there is a lag and is approachable for requests, while Adams is often moving through the crowd dancing freely herself; an example of how free others can be.
No one is ever on the dance floor alone, as she is there too.
Adams said that she thinks that showing up authentically, as people who identify as women are doing with the Ladies' Nights, is what most people are craving and that society is moving toward.
"I think we're just moving into more of an energetic time where we're looking for spaces that are empowering and that are energetically sound. And I think that's across the board. I don't think it's just a Ladies' Night out thing. I think it's a business thing. I think it's just the way that the world is starting to operate," she said, hopefully.
The next Ladies’ Night Out is Saturday, April 12th from 7 to 10 p.m.
Tickets are $10 and offered on Eventbrite or by e-transfer.
Find out more by going to Village Vibe Collective on or .
Disclosure: reporter Jennifer Thuncher paid to attend Ladies' Night. She did not gain any benefit for pursuing this story.
