DJ Morabito
Before the reinvention became Morabito there was a young girl named Susan in a mans world of the DJ with a dream…
Morabito: The Art Of Enduring Excellence
The word “legendary” rolls off the tongue easily and often these days, but in the world of music and nightlife that story is usually told in the past tense. Unless the legend happens to be Susan Morabito. Few names have dominated the dance scene over the course of three decades and remain as relevant, current and celebrated as Morabito.
Susan moved to New York City in 1987, and after opening her own record store in Greenwich Village called BPM, she had her breakthrough as a DJ when she landed a multi-year summer residence at the famed Pavilion in Fire Island Pines.
In the early days of AIDS activism, she provided the musical inspiration at many international fundraising parties and became a sought after name on “the circuit”. The GMHC Morning Party on Fire Island, Dance On Washington and Cherry in Washington, D.C., Blue Ball and Blue Redo in Philadelphia, Zoo Party in San Diego, Alegria in New York, Gay Days in Orlando, White Party in Palm Springs, Big Guns on the USS Intrepid for the 25th anniversary of Stonewall and the 20th anniversary of Dance On The Pier in New York are just a few of the events she played…
At the Pavilion
1995 GMHC Morning Party
In 2013
Susan dropped her first name and introduced a visual identity to emphasize and support a new musical direction as “just” Morabito. Because of her instinctual understanding of music’s power and her ability to drive the night with a wide range of tribal, underground, progressive and tech house, the project was enthusiastically received by the community.
She kept people dancing until sunrise at after hours events during both Miami’s Winter Party and White Party weekends, and her own Equinox and Climax parties became part of NYC nightlife history. She was the first woman to headline (with DJ Paulo one year and Victor Calderone another) one of the most famous dance parties in the world, the sexually infused, leather themed Saint At Large Black Party in New York City. Among many others, she also played The Saint At Large White Party with Peter Rauhofer and Twilo Halloween with Danny Tenaglia.
Susan Morabito has graced every major club and sound system in NYC, including Twilo, Roxy, Tunnel, Sound Factory, Limelight, Palladium, Roseland, Cielo, Pacha, Webster Hall, XL and Stage Forty8. Her musical reach extends to gigs in Tokyo, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, Milan, Amsterdam and across New York’s cultural landscape, where she created the soundscapes to many must-attend galas by Calvin Klein, American Ballet Theater, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Sotheby’s, Martha Stewart, Anna Wintour and Robert Isabel. Susan was also the musical director for the fashion world’s most luminous event, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute benefit gala tribute to icon Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
The past years brought a quarterly residency at Viva in New York, repeated major club bookings in Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Houston, Provincetown, San Francisco, Montreal, Washington and Chicago, and saw Morabito headlining the WE Party in New York and San Francisco, Masterbeat for New Year’s Eve and Halloween in Los Angeles, White Horizons during White Party Week in Miami, The Pines Party with Chus+Ceballos on Fire Island in 2014 then again with The Carry Nation in 2016, and after 22 years, the return to the main event for the 25th anniversary of the famous Black & Blue festival in Montreal.
A new generation is now discovering and raving about the impeccable taste and rare ability to create a cohesive and seamless experience on the dance floor that sets Morabito apart and that earned her the appreciation and respect of dancers and peers alike. Through a new focus on music production and remixing she will take her meticulous standards and craft well into the future and will ensure that the legend continue.
Labor Day Traditions: Fire Island is all about traditions. For five decades, the gay community has been coming to the Pines and apart from personal traditions, there have been community traditions and rituals we can choose to take part in such as various teas, pool, drag and beach parties. And of course there’s the nightlife. One of my island traditions, is the bitters sweet tradition of Labor Day Sunday. It’s an amazing feeling being involved in part of a tradition; it brings our community together in a unique and special way. It carves out a piece of history in our culture, and is remembered fondly for years to come…
2023
