Courtney Nichols: Silly With Intention
"How surreal is it that I conceptualized Disco Dining Club, my first event-producing adventure, while in law school?!" starts Courtney Nichols in a laugh. "Being from Monterey, California and having attended college in New York, I was on a trajectory where I thought that Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles was the next logical step of my life, and then it became evident that it wasn't. Was it a mid-youth crisis? Was it because I started organizing these outlandish events in the way of counteracting the inherent dryness of law school? Regardless of the deep reason, I do feel like that in this very bizarre non-linear trajectory of mine, I found myself."
Courtney's discovery about herself and the parties that followed serve as a leitmotif for high-spirited humans. Just the kind of people Dahlia attracts into its circle. Being a pure spirit for high-spirited people, Dahlia Tequila prides itself on being inclusive by nature because so is love. People from all origins and walks of life, living their dreams and experiencing as many sexual identities as there are shades of skin, this is love perpetuated by the misfits who make the fabric of life.
"It will sound ludicrous and superficial, but my whole life before Los Angeles, whether it's in New York or San Francisco, I tried to find a group of misfits on the dance floor. Here, in LA, I found this community of people who party all night, wear outrageous outfits embracing the disco mantra. They became my family. When it comes to daytime LA, I'm obsessed with it! I'm an LA addict! The diversity and caliber of the people and their outfits. I love the hole-in-the-walls. I'm obsessed with LA."
"I really believe that parties are a form of self-expression and rebellion, allowing a sane dissociation from our exhausting lifestyle. But I also believe in partying with a purpose. That's why, at Of The Night, we donate a percentage of our profits to different non-profit organizations. It doubles the legitimacy of partying while integrating that child-like sense of play, innovation, and colored whimsicality."
"Being the hostess at my events was crucial for me to maintain the fluidity of the conversations, making sure newbies interact with the veterans from your parties to create that sense of community most authentically and genuinely. Obviously, the pandemic and the 'party-in-a-box' concept changed that. Everything we do is still inspired by music, cinema, literature, parties that took place hundreds of years ago, almost in a cosplay form that doesn't follow a storyline and a narrative too literally."
"To celebrate Pride, we are releasing a party package inspired by the cult classic To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. It's drag kitsch at its finest. The magnum opus of the movie is a gathering called the "Strawberry Social," [that] embodies the theatricality, music, acceptance, and fierce fashion of the Drag world."
"This package is curated to embrace our inner diva and celebrate Pride under this month's strawberry full moon. 'Approval is neither desired nor required,' Noxeema Jackson said in the movie. It is very colorful, playful, and very emblematic of the night. It's silly with intention, in a cohesive narrative that empowers people to completely transform their homes to party all night."
How about you? Are you ready to embrace your inner diva?