All successful ideas have one thing in common - they are born on the spur of the moment and take root quite easily. Gediminas Jaunius, a television and events producer, and Julija Janus, a designer and exhibition curator, born on the same day and knowing each other for decades, decided to celebrate their birthday in a completely different way this time and to create an extraordinary celebration, driven by a beautiful initiative, in the very heart of Vilnius.
"The idea was not only to celebrate our birthdays together, which together became a symbolic 100 years, but also to test a new party concept. We came up with the idea of creating a chat and dance event where people who want to socialise and people who want to dance can relax. After all, these two activities are usually hard to fit together - nightclubs start late and are so loud you can't talk, and evenings are often too formal and boring for meetings. In just one meeting to discuss the plan, the name of the creative tandem and the party was born - Jaunius and Janus turned into JAJA", says Julija Janus about how the idea started.
Usually nightclubs start their programmes at 11pm and finish around 4am.Meanwhile, JAJA's party started as early as 8pm, ended at 1am and transformed an ordinary car park in Jonas Mekas Skersvejs in Užupis into an unexpected and very colourful space. The party was inspired by the 100th anniversary of the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, which dictated a unique dress code - SPORT GLAM. The party space was aglow with the inventive costumes of the guests, changing video projections, mirrored bars and tennis ball bathtubs bathed in a multitude of lights. Among the guests of the evening were the former Mayor of Vilnius Remigijus Šimašius, producer Laurynas Šeškų, politician Agnė Bilotaitė and many others. The audience was entertained by DJ Dovilė Butnoriūtė, and the One Bite team entertained the audience with artistic snacks created exclusively for the evening.
"We wanted the evening to have several layers, so the dynamics of the evening evolved from a calm salon to a rave music frenzy. However, to make the guests feel comfortable, the background music was not too loud. The dancing atmosphere was supported by the Silent Disco concept, where guests could hear the dance music through special headphones that immersed each dancer in an intense, energetic music flow. I think the evening was a success. Thank you to everyone who came!", says Gediminas Jaunius.
However, the party organised by the celebrities was not only for fun, but also for a noble cause: instead of flowers or gifts, the two birthday celebrants decided to write to the guests to make a donation to support talented and promising young people. This time, their hero was the future tennis player Nikolė.
"She is a very talented future tennis star. However, it is difficult for her parents to support the financial costs of her lessons, to buy all the necessary equipment, to finance training and travel to international tournaments. We decided to make our celebration a noble cause and maybe help another sports star to grow up and make Lithuania famous in the future. We are convinced that such an event with a new concept will continue to attract people of all ages, and that the use of these events for charity will help to find funds to educate talented Lithuanian children," concludes Julija Janus.
