This all-female sober rave series is one of the hottest parties in Toronto

Hundreds of women have been coming together in Toronto to express themselves through dance, without the alcohol or creepy men that might often come along with a night out of clubbing.

Reunion Dance Party is the brainchild of Rachel Molenda, and it’s intended to help women reunite with themselves and each other.

More surprising than the fact that it’s possible to throw successful raves without a drop of alcohol or man in sight, is the fact that Molenda has very little background experience in live events and DJing. She actually comes from a background in coaching.

“Reunion started as an experiment,” Molenda tells YourCityWithIN.com.

“I was in the personal development and coaching field for eight years prior and then started going to raves in my early 30s. It changed my life, and so, as a challenge to myself, I decided on Christmas Day 2023 I would throw a dance party 30 days out and to force myself to learn how to DJ. I said I was going to DJ it, too. I ended up doing both of those things and essentially, the momentum behind Reunion hasn’t stopped since.”

The first ever Reunion took place on Jan. 25, 2024, with a premise of being all women, alcohol free and finishing up before 11 p.m.

“I wanted women to experience the feeling I felt when I would go to raves. Despite being in party-centric environments, I would leave feeling more alive, more myself and remembering who I am. It’s from that place, that all of my dreams and goals felt possible again as limiting beliefs and self-doubt fell away. I wanted to share that with other women who feel like they’re made for more in this world,” says Molenda. “Most women leave feeling not the same as when they walked in.”

While Reunion parties are inspired by the feeling Molenda experienced at raves, the lack of booze and early timing isn’t the only thing that sets these events apart from regular nights out at the club.

Reunion events involve an opening circle, a guided movement warm up, free form dance, group sharing, a closing circle and other “fun surprises.” You might find yourself dancing energetically, crouching down or seated on the floor.

At first, with very little expectations for what the event could be, Molenda found running Reunion to be a “breeze” at first. Over time, she’s taken the challenges that have come along with the dance parties in stride, like finding aligning affordable venues.

“Most venues make their money off of alcohol sales, but because we don’t sell alcohol, we usually have to offset that cost by paying the number,” says Molenda.

“We get some push back around it being women only and what that means, however, I will say, most of that push back comes from men. We stand clear and firm in saying that Reunion is open to all identifying and femme-presenting women including cis women, trans women and non-binary people.”

Molenda feels that any obstacles she’s had to overcome have absolutely been worth it for the way she’s been able to help people overcome obstacles in their own lives through Reunion, describing some reactions to the event as “out of this world, tears, aliveness, people actually wanting to live again.”

“We close out every Reunion with group shares and it always blows my mind what people are carrying and not talking about, but sharing it in that space almost sets people free,” says Molenda. “People are always telling us they feel so much lighter than when they walked in.”

Reunion Dance Party started out with only 30 attendees, and now they’ve grown to throwing back-to-back parties for 500 with an online community of thousands and are touring across Canada this year. Next year Molenda is hoping to bring Reunion to the United States and Europe, and also launch a merch line and online coaching platform.