The Juice Box

Rating: 3 out of 5 bottles of water

by Suzan Revah

When you’re as much of a dance floor whore as I am, it’s fun to be able to report back on a virgin circuit experience. Not only had I never been to Winter Party before, I’d never been to Miami before. I went in with no expectations, and came away utterly satisfied. That being said, I experienced the Miami circuit more than I experienced Winter Party specifically. Given that I had just about 48 hours in which to do so, I went more wide than deep, which gave me a good feel for the Miami vibe, if not for Winter Party itself.

I didn’t make it into town in time for Rising Tide party with Rosabel, nor for the Winter Party pool party with the Perry Twins, which was unfortunate. Word on the dance floor a few nights later was that Rosabel rocked their set, and apparently the weather was perfect for the pool party. I’m sure the Perry Twins were perfect for the pool party, too, having seen them do their matchy-matchy disco choreography at the White Party Palm Springs pool party.

Instead, I arrived just in time for the Rough Waters “leather dance event” at Sea Monster in Fort Lauderdale, with leather-crowd favorite Ted Eiel at the decks. Turnout was good, and everyone was decked out in enough gear to make a San Franciscan feel right at home. Teddy was turning out the chunky beats and the vibe was friendly. Only the smokers on the dance floor weren’t.

From there I made an unexpected stop at the Atlantis Sail-Away party at Manor, featuring DJ Manny Lehman. Though the venue was odd, with an attached café and quite a crowd of people who seemed to have no idea there was a circuit party taking place on site, the scene was upbeat. The boys that were still there when I arrived didn’t quite seem like they were among the Atlantis set, but then again neither did Manny’s music, which had a distinctly Latin flavor to it. I enjoyed it, and felt I got a good taste of why Manny earned the nickname “Latin from Manhattan.”

The next day I had the pleasure of brunching at DJ Frank Wild’s Miami bungalow before heading into the weekend’s main event, the Beach Party. Getting orientation from a Miami dance floor veteran set a great tone for the day, and despite a complete (yet completely typical) cluster fuck at the ticketing gate trying to get my media pass, my feet hit the sand at about 1:30.

That left me plenty of time to enjoy the day, or so I thought. A few hours in, the weather was just a little too brisk and breezy, and the beats were more than a little too hard and disjointed for a beach party. I felt the event flew by too quickly and perhaps never really hit its stride. DJ Brett Henrichsen had the mood dialed up just right in his opening set, but Brazilian headliner Ana Paula took the crowd somewhere it never wanted to go, with a distinct lack of happy vocals and several noticeable drops that the crowd didn’t recover from well. Several times, she came out from behind the DJ booth and seemed to be doing some Offer Nissim-style crowd-conducting, but I found myself wishing she had stayed behind the decks to dig deeper into her collection for something more beach-appropriate. I kept wondering, how does a BRAZILIAN not know what people want to dance to on the beach during a sunny day? It makes no sense.

The other thing that made no sense was the controversy created by Peter Rauhofer and his event, which competed with Sunday night’s “official” Winter Party event. Lots of people at the beach party expressed a sense of shame about choosing Peter Rauhofer and Offer Nissim at Mansion over Orbit with Tracy Young opening for Boris, especially when planes kept flying by the beach party advertising the competing event (tacky!), but after the Ana Paula disaster it seemed appropriate to choose the double-headliner situation, even though I didn’t want to miss Tracy Young.

The party at Mansion was hot. The club reminded me of Alegria NYC and Cro-Bar more than anything, and it was packed from the time I got there, just past midnight, through to closing at 5am. But Offer Nissim was a no-show, and I have to wonder what behind-the-scenes drama led to that disappointment. Rauhofer, who took over the decks well after 2am, didn’t play the darkest set I’ve ever heard from him, so I didn’t feel as disappointed as I might have otherwise. There were anthems and some church music. They were stripped spare, but kept the crowd energized, even through several more unfortunate drops that seemed to rip a hole through an otherwise dynamic and fun dance floor.

In general, I didn’t experience the attitude I thought might come with Miami. I encountered way more cunty in New York City, and the “body fascism” I was warned about in Miami never felt oppressive. The boys were diverse and beautiful, and there was an interesting thug aesthetic, but there was also plenty of genuine smiles and dancing from the heart. I felt very welcome, and had a particularly great time with the Miami extension of the Brazilian pack I run with here at home. I also spent several hours bouncing to the beats with DJ Luke Johnstone, who had the night off for a change.

All in all, I’d recommend Winter Party Miami, to circuit newbies and veterans alike. Of course I heard many references to how “Miami ain’t like it used to be,” but there’s always someone longing for a bygone heyday, and I preferred to take Miami for what it’s worth right now. Winter Party production seemed a bit bloated, but professional, and in general the circuit scene seemed robust and lively. I’m ready to go back, and I’ve already got a date on the calendar, when I set sail on Atlantis’ Allure of the Seas in February 2011.

Tags: Ana Paula, Brett Henrichsen, Manny Lehman, Offer Nissim, Peter Rauhofer, Rosabel, Suzan Revah, Ted Eiel, The Perry Twins, Winter Party