I was introduced to square dancing in July of 1999 when a friend of mine had a going away party at University of Chicago with an “intro-to-square-dancing” theme. He and other U-of-C’ers had been trekking up to the North Side to square dance with Chi-Town for years, and I thought they were all crazy. I wanted to skip the party because I thought it was so geeky, but I had promised to bring soda, so I went.

Lynette Bellini taught us some basic moves in mini-squares and called a regular tip to a full square of advanced dancers as a demo for us. I was instantly hooked and started BMP class in September of 1999. I have enjoyed dancing with Chi-Town ever since!