It's the Hottest (and Only?) Moms-Only Dance Party, and We Were There

I joined more than a hundred moms in downtown Manhattan over the weekend—no, not for pre-K orientation or a kids’ concert or school fundraiser, but to hit the dance floor! It was all thanks to Elizabeth Wellington and Sarah Battani Sams, two Denver parents who founded a moms-only dance party, Moms Feelin’ Themselves (MFT), in 2022, and now, after drawing sold-out crowds, have turned it into a traveling, national movement.
 
After recent a stop in San Francisco, the party came to NYC, and I was not going to miss it, so I made plans for my 13-year-old to spend a few hours with a good friend. Then I battled a big-time dose of last-minute remorse for committing to nighttime plans (after a day of snow, no less) and finally headed out.
 
I shouldn’t have been surprised to meet other moms who had happily driven, trained or Ubered from up to almost three hours away. Then there was posse of five who had only come from uptown but let me know they had 18 kids between them; all left home with dads because the moms were dead set on reclaiming the booty-bouncing joy and connection they hadn’t felt in some time.

They’re not the only moms who crave community, which is why MFT created “a place to laugh, move, and have fun without kids in tow,” says co-founder Elizabeth Wellington, mother of two kids ages 2 and 4. Their community started locally, in Denver, but as moms kept DM’ing them to “come to our town,” they took the tour on a cross-country road trip.
 
I hadn’t been downtown at night for years, but the intimate Bowery Electric club was the perfect venue—cozy and utterly cool. Everyone was dressed with freedom of movement in mind—jeans and booties, hoodies and sneaks, plus a healthy smattering of flowing blouses, sexy tank tops, embellished sweaters, and whatever else was needed to get their dance on.
 
“It’s all about comfort,” said Sams, a mom of three kids ages 1, 3, and 12. “Who wants to hurt their back dancing all night?” Some moms drank, some didn’t, and I noticed something crazy—hardly anyone even touched their phones! Instead of taking pics or videos or checking in on their spouses or kids, they were actually enjoying themselves.
 
When a mother of 6-year-old twins named Monica won the raffle of the night, a family retreat valued at $5,000, her response was classic: “Do I have to bring my kids?”

There was not a child in sight at the party, of course, where the crowd would roar an exuberant welcome every time a new reveler came into the club. DJ K Styles spun ’80’, ’90s and current pop hits that was sometimes hard to hear over the women joyously scream-singing along to Pink, Rihanna, OutKast and Britney. The floor shook during anthems like “Pink Pony Club” and “I Don’t Care I Love It” and it was pure joy dancing with friends and strangers who understood the mix of guilt, nervousness and inspiration we all felt just for being there. 
 
But nobody was dancing harder than the two founders, decked out in black mixed with festive fringe and snakeskin. From the start, Wellington, a perinatal psychotherapist, and Sams, a business analyst, recognized the power of dancing.
 
“Dance has been shown to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety by increasing dopamine and serotonin, neurotransmitters that support mood, motivation, and emotional stability, and by stimulating oxytocin, the hormone linked to safety and connection,” Wellington says. “It also helps regulate the stress response, shifting the nervous system out of fight-or-flight and into a calmer, more connected state. For mothers, whose bodies have been through pregnancy, birth, medicalization, feeding, and caring for another— and who often feel more functional than sacred— dance restores a sense of ownership.” 
 
She says that if you can think about how you feel when you’re dancing with friends— that freedom and safety— the health benefits are not so surprising. “Group dance is literal nervous system co-regulation,” she says, “and for moms whose nervous systems are being borrowed to co-regulate their little ones all day long, this supports moms to feel not only more grounded, but also a sense of bonding, trust, and belonging. It truly helps moms to feel an embodied sense of calm togetherness— of not being alone in this journey.”
 
Luckily, the journey isn’t stopping here. In the spring, the duo will a virtual maternal wellness program that draws from Wellington’s background in perinatal mental health, modern psychoanalysis, neuroscience, and somatic work.
 
“The big picture goal is simply to meet moms where they are,” she says.

In whichever city, at whatever point in motherhood, there’s no doubt that community and dance are tools to build stronger mental health, friendships and confidence. No wonder moms are joining the movement in droves. It felt empowering getting into a room with great women and great music. I can’t wait until MFT is back in NYC for an encore.