First off, time for a little refresher. Remember way back 6 months ago when we talked about the Spirit of Music garden, and I ended the entry by saying that "[in a] few months we will be revisiting this location"? Well guess what? After 6 months, we're coming back to the Spirit of Music garden.
For the past 16 years, there has been a dance party going on in Grant Park known as Chicago SummerDance. The basic format of it is that there is a introductory dance lesson led by an instructor, and then there are 2 hours of dancing under the stars in the heart of the city. The genres of music offered can vary greatly, with nights featuring acts as eclectic as Swing, Salsa, Greek Folk Music, Gypsy Brass, Appalachian, and even Cajun. The dance floor itself has been modified over the years, and its current dimensions are 4,800 square feet, plus a stage area. If you ever get tired of dancing, there are always concessions off to the side of the dance floor, which offer an assortment of beer, wine, and food items available for purchase. Of course, let's not just take my word for it, so here are some samples from Yelp reviews of the festival.
"When cold, chilly winter gets me down, I look at my Marilyn Monroe dress and dream of SummerDance. I'm counting down till June 14 - SummerDance 2007. It starts with a free hour of dance lessons, then once they've given you a chance for a cool drink, you get two hours of live dance music."
"A large chunk of the nights feature Latin dances and swing, but you'll see anything from Transylvanian folk to bhangra to square dancing. After the lesson there's live music, and the floor fills with newly empowered masses who now know how to get down to this. The little snack shop on the premises has decent offerings, including glasses of wine for $6, larger glasses of sangria for $7, veggie burgers, meat hot dogs, and pita w/hummus."
"So I have been to three of these dance events this summer and it really can be a hit or miss. I absolutely loved the bellydancing lessons and found the instructor to be really good at teaching a huge crowd of novices how to bellydance, which is no easy feat. To top it off, she made it fun for the crowd, she threw in a couple of jokes and had a fun, positive attitude."
As all of these Yelp reviewers will attest, SummerDance is clearly one of the premiere summertime attractions that can be enjoyed in the city of Chicago. As for this summer, SummerDance runs every Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through September 15. The complete schedule can be found here
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