Ah yes, spring is almost here, which means it’s nearly cotillion season, in which the young ladies of polite society don their kid gloves, helmets, and roller skates and prepare for an evening of drinking, elbowing, and general mayhem. If this doesn’t sound quite like the polite society our antebellum predecessors had in mind, that’s of course because it’s not. This is 21st century Brooklyn, after all. And tonight is the Gotham Girls Roller Derby Derbytaunt Ball, at Littlefield.
Since 2003, the Gotham Girls have been skating, tripping, and cheering their way into the hearts of New Yorkers, and every year they’ve held their Derbytant Ball, where the polite young rookie skaters and league newcomers are introduced to derby society through a dramatic team assignment ceremony.
There will be drinking and dancing, just not the type your kind Southern grandmother hand in mind. Unless she was super, super progressive. Tickets are $15 at the door, and like any good debutante ball, proceeds will go to an honorable cause – in this case the GGRD’s mission of developing young female athletes into kick-ass national and international competitors.
Although the party is set to continue “until you can no longer stand,” the ceremony commences at 9, so make sure you don’t roll in too late.
Derbytaunt Ball, 8pm, Littlefield, 622 Degraw Street, Gowanus, $15