“We told the bartenders we were going to be really busy… they didn’t believe us,” quips Dina Ben-Nissan of the first official ¡BAILE! party back in the summer of 2022. Ironically enough, it’s lack of belief that led Dina alongside Courtney Hollinquest to skillfully craft what’s become one of LA’s most talked about perreos. After years of being dismissed as main acts and given overlooked, weeknight time slots, the two were set on doing things their own way.
¡BAILE! is a world music dance party making its mark on the Los Angeles scene —and rightfully so. With parties centering POC femmes, Dina and Courtney have intentionally created a space where everyone is welcome to come as they are. “This is about accessibility,” Courtney, better known as DJ Cquestt, explains, “[¡BAILE!] is a safe space, there’s no exclusivity.” A sentiment that seems to be lost on the majority of the nightlife industry.
The roots of ¡BAILE! trace back to 2022, when Dina—AKA DJ DINABN—heard Courtney playing a mixture of Latin funk “world music” that caught her attention. “I thought, ‘Why is nobody hiring us to play this kind of music?’” Dina admits. “It was tough to find a promoter that was willing to give women the opportunity to have a prime weekend spot,” Courtney adds of her experience navigating a male-dominated industry. “We built the space we were lacking,” she muses. From there, ¡BAILE!, which had been thrown as a one-off party by Courtney, took on a new shape and began speaking for itself as an event club owners would be lucky to feature.
Setting up shop with a residency at Blind Barber—a lounge tucked away behind a barber shop that looks more like a midcentury modern living room than a stale club—guests can expect three things to always be true: attempting to Shazam whatever is playing from the DJ booth, dancing (lots of it), and all-around good-yet-sweaty vibras. “Wear something light to ¡BAILE!,” jokes Dina of the non-stop movement coursing through the space from start to finish. With doors opening at 9pm and the dance floor completely packed by 10, the energy, alongside the excitement of the crowd is consistent.
Music, of course, being one of the main factors to keep a crowd coming back, is always top of mind for Dina and Courtney. Influenced by their cultural backgrounds and Los Angeles upbringing, the DJs infuse a sense of soul into their artistry that’s profoundly their own. Each mix they play drips in tales of their ancestors effortlessly melded with recognizable beats. It’s this sense of vulnerability and honesty that lended itself to making Dina and Courtney’s individual sounds feel almost familiar yet still refreshingly different and novel.
For Dina, that sound formed in the aisles of her father’s record store, where grew up surrounded by a blend of Mexican corridos, Lil Wayne, the Spice Girls, and more. Fast forward to her high-school years, where the Persian-Mexican DJ watched her friends get creative with their mixes every Friday on their school field. “I always thought that was so cool but I just figured DJing was too difficult,” she recalls. It wasn’t only but a few years later until that false narrative washed away and Dina began her career. “I started off playing house music,” she notes of her start, “but I really found my sound [once] I discovered my love for Latin music.”
Only a few miles away Courtney, whose family comes from Black, Mexican, and Puerto Rican descent, learned her craft from a DJ close to home—her uncle. Five Lizzo tours later, Courtney—who at the time was working as one of her dancers—continued to perfect her skills with the help of DJ Sophia Eris. And while the two never met until they’d already established themselves as ones to watch in the industry, a throughline existed between Courtney and Dina’s work—their hometown.
“LA’s voice is so clear you can almost grab it,” gleams Courntey of the city that raised them. Cultural expression through community lives at the forefront of ¡BAILE!. The sounds of freedom embedded into Dina and Courtney’s mixes invite you to feel a release of joy for the human experience, all while recognizing the similarities that bind us. “We all have different ways of living,” notes Courtney, “but we all listen to music that has the same undertone of pride for our culture.” “Plus,” Dina points out, “you can always dance to music you don’t know.” It’s precisely why the two remain dedicated to building out their party’s stellar lineup with other POC femmes integrating their unique flow into the threads of ¡BAILE!.
And while their parties will forever be a melting pot of cultures, there is one demographic que manda. “I mean listen, hot girls run this city,” Courtney laughs. “I love playing music that makes me feel sexy and cute and I hope that’s able to be translated with the rest of the hotties that come,” Dina reaffirms. “If they’re not having fun, the party isn’t fun,” clarifies Courtney. “We cater to the cuties.”
