{"id":144077,"date":"2026-02-24T19:47:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T19:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/144077\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T19:47:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T19:47:20","slug":"culture-of-bathe-ing-brings-nordic-wellness-and-performance-art-to-brooklyns-domino-park-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/144077\/","title":{"rendered":"Culture of Bathe-ing brings Nordic wellness and performance art to Brooklyn\u2019s Domino Park \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"_DSC3534\"\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Fifteen architecturally distinct saunas transform Domino Park into a Nordic-inspired wellness playground, part of a monthlong Culture of Bathe-ing pop-up inviting visitors to explore communal heat therapy, performances and phone-free downtime.<\/p>\n

Photo by Emma Delahanty<\/p>\n

\t\t Search our comprehensive guide to things to do in Brooklyn<\/a> for more local events \u2014 or submit your own<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Domino Park has a steamy upgrade as Culture of Bathe-ing<\/a> brings a European staple to New York \u2014 saunas \u2014 creating a space for people to detox without a phone in sight.<\/p>\n

Originating in the Nordic countries around 10,000 years ago, according to the BBC<\/a>, saunas were believed to be essential to a person\u2019s emotional and physical well-being. They also played a spiritual role, connecting people to the four elements.<\/p>\n

Therme Group<\/a>, a company dedicated to sustainable wellness, has brought its European grassroots mission to the United States through Therme U.S.<\/a>, which is sponsoring Culture of Bathe-ing\u2019s one-month pop-up through March 1. The goal is to entice New Yorkers with the benefits of sauna culture while building a new one of its own \u2014 complete with raves, a kids\u2019 week and daily performances.<\/p>\n

\u201cBathing is all about real life,\u201d Robert Hammond, co-founder of Friends of the Highline and Therme U.S. president, said. \u201cWhat we\u2019re interested in is the physical sauna, where you talk to people, where that\u2019s part of the experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Saunas line the waterfront at Domino Park, part of a monthlong installation introducing New Yorkers to communal bathing culture.Photo by Emma Delahanty \"\"Culture of Bathe-ing transforms Domino Park into a sauna-filled landscape, complete with performances, workshops and family events.Photo by Emma Delahanty<\/p>\n

Hammond said Culture of Bathe-ing began as a Substack about a year ago, before the team realized that bathing culture isn\u2019t digital \u2014 it has to happen in real life.\n<\/p>\n

With 15 architecturally distinct saunas, Hammond said he wanted to create a range of experiences. The largest sauna, which holds about 70 people, was built from the ground up to accommodate larger crowds and performances.<\/p>\n

Twice a day, wellness dancers and sisters Joli Irvine and Alexi Irvine perform inside the heated sauna, presenting a \u201cfire and ice\u201d routine they created themselves.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love it,\u201d Alexi said. \u201cWe\u2019re doing a lot of like rituals, off goose, which is more like healing, breath work, and stretching and also in the sauna we do the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the 15-minute performance, the Irvine sisters, dressed in fire-and-ice\u2013themed costumes, heat up the room with a storytelling piece about the bond between the two elements. As the dance unfolds, the sisters separate, creating a world ruled only by fire. The temperature rises as they ladle more water onto the sauna rocks, intensifying the heat.<\/p>\n

Once fire and ice reunite, the dance ends, and the sisters \u2014 along with the audience \u2014 rush outside into the cold air.
\n\"\"Dancer Joli Irvine moves through her \u201cfire and ice\u201d routine inside a heated sauna at Domino Park, where she and her sister perform twice daily as part of the Culture of Bathe-ing pop-up.Photo by Emma Delahanty\n<\/p>\n

To train for this heated performance, Joli said it took \u201ca lot of practice and a lot of dedication. Just doing it over and over again and feeling how that feels in the body.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hammond wanted to bring a new culture to the sauna that traditionally isn\u2019t seen in the bathhouse. That\u2019s why he partnered with Pioneer Works<\/a> to bring a dance into the mix.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo how do we bring culture that normally doesn\u2019t happen in a bathhouse into the sauna?\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we partnered with Pioneer Works to also bring different performances that you would normally see in a theater.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"One of 15 architecturally distinct saunas stands along the waterfront at Domino Park, forming a Nordic-inspired wellness corridor. \"\"Organizers say they hope to take the wellness experience on the road.Photo by Emma Delahanty<\/p>\n

While Hammond believes sauna culture is already growing in New York City, he plans to take the show on the road and continue staging Culture of Bathe-ing pop-ups across the country.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d also like to go to other cities and sort of take this on the road,\u201d Hammond said. \u201cBring it to cities that really don\u2019t have a sauna culture.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fifteen architecturally distinct saunas transform Domino Park into a Nordic-inspired wellness playground, part of a monthlong Culture of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,60443,29240,9,24,12,370,60444,63,50049,7947,904,1881,1424],"class_list":{"0":"post-144077","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brooklyn","8":"tag-brooklyn","9":"tag-brooklyn-headlines","10":"tag-brooklyn-news","11":"tag-culture-of-bathe-ing","12":"tag-domino-park","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-news","16":"tag-newsletter","17":"tag-nordic","18":"tag-nyc","19":"tag-saunas","20":"tag-spa","21":"tag-things-to-do","22":"tag-wellness","23":"tag-williamsburg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}