Centerstage - Chicago's Original City Guide

Articles Sections >> Arts + Words Bars + Clubs Dating Festivals Fitness Food Lifestyle Music Theater Travel + Tourism Who's Who > View All Music Guides

Chicago SummerDance provides family-friendly fun for the uncoordinated.

Tuesday Aug 15, 2006.     By Ben Rubenstein

Music Feed

I'll always remember the time I saw James Earl Jones doing the hora. Ok, maybe it wasn't really him, but he was wearing overalls. To be fair, it wasn't the hora either; it was more of a Russian couples dance. But still, the image stands out amongst the many others that characterized my first experience at the Chicago SummerDance series in Grant Park's Spirit of Music Garden.

I decided to sit that particular dance out, preferring to view the proceedings from my seat at the edge of the colorful, 4,600-square foot dance floor (actually a work of art made from recycled plastic, called "Chicago Ground Cover") that has dominated Grant Park's Spirit of Music Garden this summer.

Steve Weintraub, a nationally recognized authority on Eastern European dance, was leading the crowd with vigor. Cheerful traditional tunes pumped from the speaker while the 50 or so people scrambled to mimic Steve's demonstrations.

"Clap, clap, stamp!" the man with the eerily perfect sideburns shouted intermittently, seemingly determined to ignore the increasing raindrops. I was just hoping no old ladies fell on the slick dance floor and needed a replacement hip.

Eventually, the rain became too much for even Steve to ignore, and the crowd was forced under any available shelter in the beautiful, flower-laden garden. Still, the population remained strong. These people had come out to learn some dances, and a little downpour wasn't going to stop them. As one eager dancer insisted, "Let's protest the rain!"

Thankfully, it didn't come to picketing. Just as Steve had predicted (apparently he has connections with the weatherman upstairs), the showers soon abated. After a quick squeegee of the dance floor by the White Sox poncho-clad assistant manager, it was time for the main attraction.

Yid Vicious, a klezmer band from Madison, Wisconsin, took the stage to much fanfare. According to Brian, the crowd here was a bit different from the one he'd experienced the week before, when salsa was the music of choice. Perhaps reflective of the minimal amount of hip-shaking this night's dancing demanded, the floor was currently packed with entire Jewish families and single older women wearing fanny packs. As the band started up with its polka-ish melodies, everyone joined hands and proceeded to snake around the dance floor.

It was around this time that Zippy (full name: Tziporah) propositioned Brian. She only wanted a dance, but she didn't seem like she would take no for an answer. So when the next waltz came along, I had to find a partner of my own.

Enter Laura, the possibly Israeli girl both Brian and I had been eyeing throughout the night (partly because she was one of the few dancers in our general age group). Though I was slightly disappointed with her lack of an accent and the fact that her shirt did not, as we had hoped, feature a series of interlocking Hebrew letters, Brian's jealous glances as we crossed the floor together made it all worth it. Our time together was short, but I did learn one thing about Laura; she wasn't too impressed with Yid Vicious. Despite the band's admittedly awesome name, she confided that she’d heard klezmer that was "more vibrant."

I glanced around again, and saw Steve flirting amiably with an older dancer, kids swinging each other around in the hopes of breaking each other's necks, and, yes, Chicago's most convincing Terence Mann impersonator. If this night's experience wasn't vibrant, then I guess I don't know the meaning of the word.

The Chicago SummerDance series takes place every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday through August 27 at the Spirit of Music Garden in Grant Park (601 S. Michigan Ave.). Each evening includes an hour of dance instruction followed by two hours of live music from R&B to salsa. For more information, visit chicagosummerdance.org.

Ben Rubenstein jumps under the covers every other week in an ongoing search for freebie music that rocks. If you know of a no-cover night he should check out, email him.