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Thursday, November 13, 2003 The Inhabitants of the Underground A description of last weekend wouldn't be the same if I didn't include some of the characters who participated in it... and swing dancers do come in many varieties, both in age (high school to senior citizen), ethnicity (Native American, Asian, white, black, Hispanic), body type (skinny to rather large, 5 feet to 6.5 feet tall), and "look" (casual to suits to vintage to hippie to goth), but apparently not so many occupations--most seem to be computer/engineering or artistic types. But a few brief profiles and related stories: With his lean frame and shoulder-length blond hair, Dave looks like the lead singer of a rock band. But instead he's a computer consultant who dubbed his San Francisco house the "Lindy Hotel" since dancers are so often staying there (this is the same guy from the previous blog who moved to that city because it has the best swing scene in the country). Advertising on his website pays his rent and he refuses to eat meat and milk products on mostly ethical grounds. When he lived in Colorado, there weren't any good teachers around, so he and his friends learned to dance from videos--by the time he moved, they'd worn a circle into his floor. Dave's been dancing for longer than most--seven years, if I remember correctly--and is the only person that I can recall beating me (not that it hasn't happened, but no other instance comes to mind) at Monopoly. One look at Austin's green-streaked dreadlocks and you have to wonder how on earth he got hooked on swing. But although one follow was annoyed by a faceful of dreads when doing blues, he is incredible and some of my most fun dances were with him. Although he seems to be in his fifties, Kent, who wore billowing goth pants with hanging black strips all weekend, is surprisingly agile. He does ballet four times a week, which I discovered when he started doing impressive leg extensions around 6:00am: "You know Kent's happy when he starts doing ballet." No, I don't think he's gay--few lindy hoppers are. My first host, Kelly, has been dancing for five years, and made us (myself and Dana, who being from NC was suffering from the frigid Chicago temperatures) dinner both nights I stayed, which was wonderful of her. She works in real estate although she studied art history at Calvin College (which apparently is ill-known outside of Michigan--just a word of caution to anyone who wants to apply there) and gave me the news that Wheaton recently broke with its 143-year tradition and has decided to allow dancing on campus. According to the Chicago Tribune, the students love swing and are hoping the first school-sponsored dance is swing-themed... they'd better not do any blues, which has the potential of being sensual enough that they'd lose their new-found privilege. Plump and friendly, Jill lives with two guys, one of whom is her best friend and Star Wars-obsessed (we'd get along) ex-fiance. She owns the happiest dog/alien/Ewok/ball of fur you've ever met, who's small enough for her to spin on the floor and toss back and forth with one hand. Apparently she's an amazing baker--I'd never seen such a large bag of Ghiradelli chocolate chips in my life--and was gracious enough to allow Dave and I to invade her kitchen to make crepes (some with cinnamon and sugar, some with chocolate sauce). Have you ever tried eating and making crepes and swing dancing at the same time? Thought not. Word of the Day: Volte-face, noun: A reversal, as in policy; an about-face. ^ Top | 5:06 PM | | | 
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