W Hotels

It’s a community we respect and nurture at every opportunity. The annual Amsterdam Dance Event took place last October in collaboration with Cercle, setting up shop in the middle of the party at W Amsterdam. Here are some of the highlights.

Looking the Part

A festival as bright as ADE needs to look as sharp as the music. We had NXT Museum create a specially commissioned immersive installation at the W Lounge from multimedia artist and professor Amelia Winger-Bearskin. Her creations  “MIDNIGHT” and “TO BODY,” brought guests on an ecologically-minded and visually dazzling exploration across the globe.

Hands On Creativity 

ADE is about music at its core, but it’s also so much more than that. We hosted workshops that explored the adjacent passions of music fans. By including experiences related to fashion, technology, and food, attendees got the chance to explore creativity beyond sound. Cercle hosted a “HOW TO? Design a Clothing Collection” workshop, which guided guests through the creation of a custom t-shirt, featuring expert input from Marta and Elbio Bonsaglio. One lucky fan got a chance to design a t-shirt that some of the DJs wore while performing at ADE.

“The HOW TO? Fly an FPV Drone” workshop showed guests how to use flying drones for aerial photography, using immersive Virtual Reality headsets to guide the crafts around the Lounge. There was also the Kitchn Klub event, in which Chef Paul Delrez and DJ Calao paired electronic music and the culinary arts. (The presentation on how to make a custom “special booster & detox juice” for the morning after was no doubt appreciated by many guests.)

Being an Artist in the Age of Social Media

“The Art of Exponential Growth: Capturing an Audience,” featured Indira Paganotto and Mochakk (aka Pedro Maia) discussing their strategies for building an online following and the challenges it sometimes entails.

Mochakk marveled at how many of his fans absolutely love his posts about what he ate for breakfast, which sometimes garnered more engagement than announcements of his new music. But while fans like to look inside artist’s lives, Mochakk stressed it’s important to not let building a social media presence become more important than working on new tracks.  For her part, Paganotto said her intense, trance-heavy sets can get “psychotic,” so she’s just happy people dig what she’s doing.

Where Mental Health and Music Intersect

W Amsterdam also hosted “Clarity in Chaos: Mental Health in the Electronic Music Ecosystem,” a talk about self-care and finding balance in an often hectic musical environment, featuring Annie Norman, David de Valera and Louisahhh (aka Louisa Pillot). In the thoughtful chat, the three artists talked about the challenges of being in-demand performers that often spend most of the year on tour, with Norman mentioning that while she loves performing, “the tax to pay on that is an all-consuming constantly non-stop schedule,” which makes it “hard to maintain healthy relationships.” These days, he knows the value of taking breaks for his mental health.

Louisahhh opened up about her work to not let her “self-worth be linked to follower numbers or tour dates.” She also admitted it can be tough to “do the internal work in finding value in what we do, but your ego can be so attached I feel terrible about myself” during moments when she seems to have less social media followers than some of her peers. She stressed it’s important to remember you make music because you love making music, and to not let anything else determine your self worth.

Later de Valera reflected on the start of his career, remembering the pressure he felt to break into the industry when he first started. “When you’re not getting anywhere, it’s stressful, for me it was financial, it was personal, it was a lot of difficult times,” and offered words of wisdom to aspiring performers who might find themselves in the same position. “Everybody’s journey is different in everyone’s life, so don’t compare yourself. Look away from the external factors and go inside.”

Music and Moves: Volume Up

And of course, there’s plenty of music and dancing. This is the ADE after all!

Amsterdam is famously one of the most relaxed cities in the world, but we turned up the energy at W Amsterdam with DJ sets from Cassian, Gordo, Matisa, LP Giobbi, Mind Against and many more. Each artist brought their unique flair; Gordo served up his signature high energy, pummeling beats, while Chloé Caillet’s set was heavy on her quirky, deep funk grooves. LP Giobbi performed a meditative, at times trance-like set against a panoramic, breathtaking view of the city. The performances were sold out, with several intimate events at our exclusive Loft that let guests get closer to the beat. Music flowed through the city during ADE, reminding attendees of the joy and community that dance music creates, and that we at W Hotels are proud to celebrate.