Join Sister Sledge, Indigo Girls for a Disco Dance Party

How the dance party works

Get ready for some easy, smile-inducing fun. Here’s how it works:

11 a.m.: An energizing drag dance — no experience in dance or drag required! — will give everyone a chance to stretch their dancing legs and be in the mood to hustle.

11:50 a.m.: Daybreaker star Elliott LaRue will kick off the dance party itself, which will feature a DJ’d set by MikeQ. Sister Sledge will bring the funk with performances of disco classics “We Are Family” and “He’s the Greatest Dancer,” and Indigo Girls will close out with a moving “Power of Two.” The party runs through 1 p.m. ET, and participants of all ages and abilities are invited to this free event (advance registration required). 

In other words, get your kids and grandkids to join you in the fun!

What to wear to the disco

Wear whatever outfit puts a spring in your step. But if you want to really dazzle everybody on the interactive Zoom cam, we recommend extreme bell-bottoms with an attitude to match.

Why dance parties are fun and good for you

A dance party is seriously good for you at a time when it can be more challenging to get exercise. The AARP-founded Global Council on Brain Health’s report shows that music and dance are effective treatment tools for a wide range of age-related conditions, including Parkinson’s disease and dementia. They stimulate the brain, relieve stress, build social connections and combat the isolation that plagues so many these days.

What could be better than music or movement? The two combined, says John W. Krakauer, director of the Center for the Study of Motor Learning and Brain Repair at Johns Hopkins University. “Synchronizing music, which many studies have shown is pleasing to both the ear and brain, and movement — in essence, dance — may constitute a pleasure double play,” Krakauer wrote in Scientific American. Simply put, music stimulates the brain’s reward centers, while dance activates its sensory and motor circuits.

And while exercise in general has many positive effects on well-being and health, a study of 479 adults 70 years and older published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2003 showed that of 11 physical activities (including cycling and swimming), only dance lowered dementia risk.

Earn reward points while dancing!

There are even more benefits: Saturday Morning Fever participants can sync their fitness tracker through AARP Rewards to earn 750 rewards points while dancing during the event.

Remember to RSVP!

More than 90,000 people have jumped for joy in these AARP Daybreaker events. Get in on the fun by registering no later than 10:50 a.m. ET on June 24, the day of the event.