I know I should probably not complain about this, but my parents’ stable marriage sickens me. Anytime they come back from a date they find the need to show off the fact that their social lives are much more riveting than mine. They’ll saunter home at some god-forsaken hour (9pm, usually) and break down the door to my room where I am peacefully spending my Friday night the usual way -rewatching the season finale of Chuck on loop and crying to myself- to tell me about their evening.
“Oh Maga, you would not believe the concert we went to at the Kimmel Center!”
“Ay dios, you should have been there, the orchestra practically shook!”
“Why don’t you come along to our tango group and meet somebody your own age?”
“Stop shoving popcorn in your face and listen to our evening!”
Really, it’s enough to make me want to throw said popcorn at their faces (but who am I to waste perfectly good food on pathetic lovesick elders?).
Last week, however, their usual dramatic re-tellings of the event they attended was tinged with something resembling surprise. They’d decided to drop by the Philadelphia Museum’s Art After 5 program, which takes place every Friday night after 5pm and includes a number of entertainment offerings sponsored by the museum- they’ve held everything from Halloween parties to Opera flash-singing evenings- with food and drink to spare. Personally, I really like to go to those sorts of things because it usually means I can eat fancy food while listening to fancy music in a fancy staircase, slowly wondering if Saint-Gaudens’ original intent for his Diana statue (which graces the Great Stairs) was to decorate an extended dance party.
The funny thing is, it probably was.
HEY, WHO WANTS TO SEE ME SHOOT THIS ARROW THROUGH ARCHIMEDES' SHOT GLASS?
Regardless, the reason for my parents’ sudden flush of excitement and shortness of breath was a very serious dance party they had inadvertently stumbled into. Let’s be serious for a second- when you walk into the lobby of the PMA, the last thing you expect is to find an inproptu dance floor dating back to your prom years. But with the help of a certain DJ Cosmo and some truly outstanding beats, the Great Staircase of the Philadelphia Museum found itself suddenly flooded with raving dancers, a scene I’m sure it hasn’t witnessed since the days when flash mobbing was cool and original (I’m talking to you, “Friends with Benefits”)
Now, of course, at the name “DJ Cosmo”, you can probably guess what I was thinking:
- Don’t lie, you thought the same thing too. DON’T LIE TO THE INTERNET.
Sadly, the museum hasn’t yet figured out how to hire magical Nickelodeon cartoon characters, but you get the next best thing. DJ Cosmo Baker, who “blends hip-hop, disco, rock, funk, and reggae while staying true to his Philadelphia roots,” is based in Brooklyn, where he helped found The Rub, an internationally known DJ/remix collective. And he’s coming back for a rematch!
This Friday, Feburary 3rd (aka tomorrow), forgo the usual route of either breaking the law or crying into your popcorn, and stop by Art After 5′s “Philadelphia Dance Party” to bust a move, or at least attempt to. From what I hear, the place gets pretty crowded once everybody finds out DJ Cosmo is not really a floating cartoon fairy with a mathematics problem.
Art After 5 takes place every Friday from 5pm-9pm at the Great Stairs lobby of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and it’s free after admission!
