It's a sober event that doesn't feel like one: Inside L.A.'s booze-free dance party movement

Key Facts

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) This is Natural High, a renegade alcohol- and substance-free dance party that pops up in outdoor spaces around the city.
This year, the booze-free dance party is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a “Together Tour,” which includes a stop in Los Angeles on Oct. 7. “So much of nightlife is escapist culture,” Agrawal said.
Instead of using substances, Agrawal encourages participants to “dose” themselves — a Daybreaker acronym that stands for dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin and endorphins — on the hormones and neurotransmitters that are released naturally when we do things like wake up with the sun, dance to music we love and connect with a larger community.
Not every sober dance party takes such a scientific approach to sharing the benefits of booze-free socializing, but Natural High, Superbloom Collective and other alcohol-free pop-ups like Ecstatic Dance in Venice help newcomers get comfortable by beginning their events with centering activities like meditation, stretching, breathwork or somatic movement.