Jessica Herman

Tracing an unpredictable path along the dance floor with her feet, a lithe dancer gyrates to a rapid beat; her torso pulsates back and forth and every inch of her extremities appear charged, as if the music she grooves to surges through her bloodstream. Such a spectacle is not uncommon during the wee hours in a nightclub, shrouded by smoke, strobe lights and a company of sweaty bodies. But inside the regal Cultural Center hall, where there's no music to be heard, the dancer is a sight unseen.

Once before hosted at the Museum of Contemporary Art, the "silent dance party" guests respond to the music streaming live through their wireless headsets. The scene resembles a live iPod advertisement.

"I'm a big people watcher. That's what I love to do at art events," says Art Institute graduate Meg Duguid, who cultivated the silent dance party idea three years ago. "Removing the element of sound, you end up seeing interactions you might not see in a club."

The guests are tuned into one of two DJs, and who has whom--on their headsets--is unbeknownst to them. Hence the evening's title, "Dueling DJs." Standing in the center of the room, at the base of the lofty staircase, the musicians are flanked by decorative columns and wireless poles that channel their mixes like radio transmitters. Duguid explains that the same technology is used for international conferences to translate the speaker's lecture in several languages.

Partnering up, let alone grinding, is nearly impossible. Still one couple manages to synchronize their rhythms; possibly the only grey-haired folk there, they join hips and waltz near the edge of the carpet. People find other ways to get intimate; "I think she has mine," says one boy, pointing to the longhaired whirling dervish spinning in some kind of crazy eight a few feet in front of him. Behind him, a couple takes the interaction one step further, leaning into another and exchanging headsets to compare tunes.

Duguid's surprised by the number of people sitting on the sidelines, being passively entertained. Some of the non-participants inch into the "Chill Out" room where a DJ spins Christmas-inspired electronic jigs; projected images of reindeer, controlled by two artists posted at a keyboard and a laptop, morph on a screen at the front of the dark room.

One fellow roams down the hallway, rocking out to sedate black-and-white photographs of Chicago's internationally acclaimed architecture. Catching sight of the moving spectacle wiggling his way down the quiet hall, Duguid snaps a photo to relish the moment long after the party ends.

(2005-01-04)

Also by Jessica Herman

Skin spun
Rubbing shoulders with such Lincoln Park neighbors as Lush and Endo-Exo Apothecary, who also deal with matters of the skin, Powder Room (705 West Armitage) is the latest sugary sweet shop to open on Armitage
(2005-01-03)

Black Violin
If you can wait an entire year anticipating the moment that the clock strikes midnight on December 31, you can easily allow yourself to be immersed in the musical experience that is Black Violin for one night
(2004-12-21)

Dziner clothes
Images of fine-art prints slapped on cotton crew necks do not even attempt to downplay the disconnect between the art and the garment. However, collaborating with Japanese fashion designer Hirofumi Kiyonaga on a limited edition of SOPHNET clothing, Chicago artist Dzine minds the gap
(2004-12-21)

No sweatshop
The sweatshop-free phenomenon is spreading like pollen across the city
(2004-12-07)

Designs for living
(2004-12-07)

India chic
(2004-11-30)

The craft of giving
(2004-11-22)

Plush and stuff
(2004-11-22)

Fur or Faux?
(2004-11-17)

Body food
(2004-11-10)

Poster Boys
(2004-11-09)

Political circus
(2004-10-27)

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