A Hot MOCA Party at Mayan

Sauna-like conditions prevailed Friday night at the Mayan nightclub, where some 500 supporters of the Museum of Contemporary Art’s MOCA Contemporaries gathered.

How hot was it? Robert Howard, a downtown investment banker, arrived in a suit and tie, then changed into a pair of shorts he had in the car trunk.

Artist Neil Taylor, whose installation, “As We Sleep,” was on view, balanced a glass of beer on the head of his buddy, Spencer Burt. “This reminds me of a musty day in Key West,” said Taylor, who also ran his beer glass along the backs of scantily dressed women. “Next time I’d build a huge fountain of champagne so people wouldn’t have to pay so much for beer.” A Corona cost $4 at the no-host bar.

Needless to say, the pre-Columbian-style onetime movie theater, built in 1927, was not air-conditioned. “I’m trying not to have heat stroke,” said Stephanie Roth as she sought relief near a stairwell outside. Dancing was out of the question for almost everyone, except Jirayr Zorthian, a 79-year-old architect holding onto a cane, and his wife, Dabney. “What’s the matter with these young people?” he said. ‘I’ve got a broken leg--I fell off my horse--and all these young beautiful people with strong legs aren’t dancing.” A lot of the beautiful young people had collapsed on couches near the restrooms in the basement, re-emerging only to see performance artist John Kelly do his surrealistic “Mona Lisa” act.

Actually, the whole scene was faintly surreal. “It feels like something you’d do in New York but with a bunch of L.A. people,” observed Nancy Grahn, an actress on the soap opera “Santa Barbara.”