A Conversation with Marvyn Halfon of DROP Dance Society

Last November, one of my favorite communities in Barcelona, DROP Dance Society, celebrated its 5th birthday with a takeover of Sala Apolo. That celebration will forever go down as one of the top nights of my time in Barcelona. 

There’s always been something magical about DROP. To describe it as a “party” would be to completely miss the essence of this brand. DROP is a movement, a community, a space where people are encouraged to show up as their most authentic selves and experience true belonging while moving their bodies to some of the most joyful and expressive house music. 

To celebrate this milestone, I sat down with Marvyn Halfon (aka Beniso), one of the DROP founders, to talk about his journey creating and expanding DROP over the past 5 years. 

Me: What was the original idea when you set out to create DROP? 

Marvyn: Honestly just having a good time. When we started, I was looking for venues where we could develop the concept to recreate 70s/80s New York/London/Chicago in Barcelona. 

It’s a city where this wasn’t happening as it’s massively dominated by techno. The idea was to bring this kind of house into the scene and have a really strong community. Those are the two pillars. 

We had the idea of building a brand and seeing where it goes but I didn’t think about 5% of what would be possible 5 years down the line. 

The very first DROP event

Me: Can you tell me about that first party?

Marvyn: I remember it was a struggle to get the first club to say yes until Diego, the manager of This Side Up, gave us a chance so we decided to try it. 

We tried to book a lot of names for that first party and a lot of people said no. And then we got Cinthie. We then listened to 50 sets of artists in Barcelona and the names that we found were Tête de la Course and Jana La Fontaine.

That first party had a lot of emotions. We didn’t know how it was going to go so we put in a lot of care. On the first floor we had decorations and games and on the bottom floor we had the club with decorations and lights. We were trying to create an intimate and raw atmosphere like 70s/80 New York. 

We had 350 tickets to give out and planned to grow by giving the first 150 for free. That first party was a success with 300 people attending and it set the tone of what we wanted to do. After that we started doing an event every month. 

Me: One of the things that’s most special to me about DROP are the values and the ground rules that are visibly shared at each of your events. Were those the same values that set the foundation for the first party?

Marvyn: There is a distance between the values in your head and how you articulate them as a brand. With DROP the values were always “come as you are,” “come with good energy,” and “just come dance.” Let’s wake up the inner child inside of you, let’s bring good music, and let’s bring people together. This was the foundation of DROP.

The size and the way we’re doing things have changed but the principles and the energy are the same. It’s the idea of community and creating intimacy between people. We’ve been intentional about the building blocks so people can really feel like it’s consistent and reflective of something deeper than just a brand doing parties.

Me: Honestly, that’s what’s most striking to me. I remember the first time I went to a DROP event. I could immediately tell that there was a different energy. People are comfortable showing up authentically as themselves. How were you able to manifest that?

Marvyn: I think something that has been really good has been the dancers. People think it’s entertainment but it’s so much more. The dancers have a lot of different meanings. You’re sending a message in different ways. 

The first message that you’re sending with these dancers comes from the history of house and disco and its foundations in 70s/80s New York & Chicago. These clubs were populated mostly by trans people, gay people, and black people who all shared something in common: the fact that they were persecuted outside. So this was their safe space. It was a place where they could come and be whoever they wanted to be during a time where they couldn’t elsewhere.  It was a place where expression was free.

Imagine you fast forward 35-40 years later. The same people who were rejected and outcasted before are now put on the front lines as dancers and the rights that were once unthinkable for them are now promoted everywhere. We’re sending the message that you can be who you want.

The second message is that it’s not just about them. If the dancers can be who they want to be today despite everything that happened in the past, then the people who are in front of them dancing can be who they want to be as well. We’re liberating the people in the crowd which is super important to DROP. 

If it was just entertainment we would get regular dancers from a dancing company but that’s not the message we’re sending. 

Me: It’s true that the energy from the dancers is palpable at DROP. 

Marvyn: That’s because energy is constantly in motion. The energy you send to the DJ playing is sent back with the music. It goes in a loop. The dancers do the same thing in a different way. They don’t send music but they send this flow. You see a dancer dancing as if there were no tomorrow, and you want to dance as if there were no tomorrow. You see a dancer dancing like they don’t care at all how people look at them, you don’t think of how people look at you. It's that same message that you’re repeating. This gets into people’s heads and it filters the wrong people. The people who don’t align with your values come, they don’t feel at home, and they leave.

Over time, the people who feel like they can resonate are the ones that come back. We are able to say “these are our values, this is what we stand for, and if you don’t agree you don’t have to come.” In the end that’s what makes the difference. 

Me: As I understand it you’ve been bringing these values outside of Barcelona lately, can you tell me about all the travel you’ve been doing this year? 

Marvyn: We initially called it DROP Sound System but now we’re calling it DROP Dance Society. The concept is bringing the brand outside Barcelona and showcasing it around the world. 

In January, I asked myself “what if we built this group of core artists that represent the music of DROP and we expand the brand?” Inspired a bit by what Toy Tonics and Glitterbox do by bringing their brands to different cities and creating a huge community everywhere. We traveled to Ibiza, Beirut, Belgium, Berlin, and more. The response was insane. 

If you bring people to one single event you start to lose the magic of it. With DROP I wanted to avoid going bigger that way. I want to expand horizontally, not vertically. Doing parties in different cities, bringing showcases, keeping the size small and intimate, keeping the values strong rather than 1 big event that is detached from the brand. This is the idea.

We’re looking to get 25 dates over the next 12 months outside of Barcelona. 

Me: That will certainly keep you busy. How about the record label? 

Marvyn: I want to promote new artists and new music. With a label you’re constantly looking for new talents, listening to new music, and promoting new artists who might not have had a voice before. I want to be the person who’s promoting the next big names on the scene. The idea is to really work on this aspect and make it one of the foundations for the next 2 years of DROP.

We’re going to start with 6/7 releases in the next year with lots of good tracks coming. 

We briefly interrupted the interview to dive into some samples of the first release. Check out the first release on DROP Dance Society Records here.

Me: What can we expect from DROP over the next 5 years? 

Marvyn: Every component feeds the other so it’s important for me at this stage to not get stuck in the city here. Barcelona is great but I have big ambitions for DROP. I want to see it become an iconic brand. It doesn’t need to be huge but iconic with the music that we’re bringing and the values that we’re promoting.

In order to get there, we need to reach more people. I don’t want to become a media brand doing a million events a year. I want to keep the small size and keep it special and bringing music to people and promoting new artists is the way.

I hope in the next 5 years we’ll have released at least 50 EPs on the label and a big milestone for me will be the first vinyl and getting residencies in the biggest cities in Europe and the world.

Me: What is most sacred to you about DROP?

Marvyn: That anyone coming to the party can feel safe. We generate different emotions and energy whether we feel safe or not. I want people coming to the DROP to feel like they can be who they want and they won’t be judged so that they bring their inner child and wake up that part of themselves that is often repressed in our society. 

People come, express themselves, and generate all this energy. It’s freeing and liberating. That’s the most important thing. More than anything. The artists and the location can change but you need the right people and this is something I’ll protect.

This is why the dancers are here, this is why we put our values everywhere. It’s more than branding. It’s like that’s what we do. You’re in our home, respect the rules. And if you respect it, it’s your home too.

In this little box with sound and people, people feel like they can be free. This is the element I never want to lose. This is what’s most important for me because I also need that in my life.  I need to feel free in what I do.

The Neighborhood: Gràcia

One of the most significant communities in my life here in Barcelona is the one where I live. I’ve lived in the bohemian neighborhood of Gràcia for nearly 5 years and have worked at becoming a part of this community from day one. I know the owners of my frutería, tienda de alimentación, and tienda de granel and the employees of my favorite coffee shops and local bars. 

I remember being mortified by my dad when I was a kid whenever he’d say a server’s name by reading it from their nametag. It wasn’t until after college when I truly began to see the value of a name thanks to my yoga teacher, Aqeel. Fresh out of school and without a job, I found structure in my life by regularly attending his Dharma yoga classes. He’d start each class by encouraging us to introduce ourselves to the person on either side of our mat. I would always say hello, learn their names, have a quick chat, and then go about my practice. At the end of each class, I would never remember the name of either person I had met just an hour earlier. After months of forgetting names, I recognized how silly it was that I couldn’t remember something so simple after such a short period of time and challenged myself to remember each name. This little game with myself led me to both remember and use the names of people I’d meet and in doing so taught me the power of a name. 

This silly inquiry led me to a new way of life, one that opened me to a feeling of deep connection and belonging in the neighborhood where I live. 

A few years ago I read an article that resonated with me in the New York Times about the power of “low-stakes casual friendships.” 

“A 2014 study found that the more weak ties a person has (neighbors, a barista at the neighborhood coffee shop or fellow members in a spin class), the happier they feel. Maintaining this network of acquaintances also contributes to one’s sense of belonging to a community, researchers found.”

I actively choose to interact with my neighborhood in a way that leads to a greater sense of belonging, and I’m happier for it.

My weekend mornings are when I feel most at home in Gràcia thanks to my breakfast spot, Nabucco Tiramisu. It started off as a love affair with a ham and cheese croissant. This aesthetically beautiful croissant is what I’d imagine heaven tastes like. The perfectly buttery and flaky croissant with an ever-so-subtle sweet taste combined with the york ham, parma cheese, and Italian spices make for absolute perfection (I’m salivating as I write this). I religiously drink my spinach smoothie during the week so that I can indulge in this croissant on the weekends.

Becoming a regular afforded me the opportunity to get to know the staff and for them to know me. Sometimes I walk in the door to a choir of “holas” and “que tal guapa” and a laugh about whatever chaos is happening in the neighborhood that weekend. Other times I get to witness the sighs and stress that come with a busy morning and feel honored that I get to see them let their guard down with me and be real humans.

I’ve been introduced to fellow regulars and enjoy witnessing how other locals come to Nabucco with the same sense of comfort and belonging. There is a simple magic that comes from beginning the day in Nabucco and enjoying the neighborhood come together in the Plaça de la Vila.

This morning croissant is so much more than bread, butter, ham, and cheese. It represents community, neighborhood, and belonging.