Chances Dances

I went to Chances Dances pretty religiously for about 7 months or so until that relationship tanked and I was too scared to return for awhile. Then it was always a Monday night, or winter, or raining acid and cockaroaches and some how I just never made it back. Well! Now that that’s all over with (and thank god! those umbrellas were getting expensive) I finally made it back to good old Chances this week and had a blast just like the olden times last year.
Although, WTF? It’s not upstairs in the amazing 2 floor dance/​lounge/​bar/​loft anymore and that makes it go from a solid 5 to a high 4 stars. I missed the 2^nd & 3^rd floor greatly this last time, but I adjusted, rolled with the times, voted for change, yada yada.
The drinks are still cheap. There’s still no cover. The crowd is still the BEST. I mean REALLY the BEST. It’s the most welcoming, unpretentious group of dancin’ fools I’ve seen happen on the regular in this town and especially in these parts of it.
I wish the DJs mixed more though. They kind of just play song after song without mixing at all, which tends to kill your flow for a minute or two. But it’s not a rave and they do create a great great great space for us pansexual, dancing, loving, weirdos to get down so I won’t complain much.
Next time it rains down prehistoric bugs and I get dumped, I’m going to use Chances to propel me forward. Forward into the dancin’ machine future.

Every third Monday of the month around 11 pm, Chances Dances occurs. It’s hosted by Subterranean on their 2^nd/​3^rd floor. It’s pretty much the best queer/​LGBTIABCDEFGH dance event in Chicago.
The reason I like it so much is because:
1. It’s not off the red line only blocks away from drunken Cubs fans who like nothing to better than to beat the shit out of lesbos and fags if you know what I mean (still boggles my mind how the gayborhood cropped up around a baseball stadium).
2. They spin an awesome array of everything from 80s dance classics to new hip-​hop, and the everyone dances whether it’s with a stranger or with a partner.
3. The crowd is diverse as all get-​out. Everyone from gay dudes to trans-​identified folk to queer biker kids, or even yes, the straight kids. It does lean towards the hipster art-​school crowd, but everyone is accepting of all crowds as it is part of the mission and intent of the organizers of the event.
4. The goal of the organizers of the event is to seek and unite the marginalized queer communities and I think they accomplish that.
5. The drinks are good and cheap, and there’s an upstairs lounge if you just want to sit and chill or watch people dance and make-​out downstairs.
It’s probably the only club/​dance event that I’ve ever met multiple partners at, and I mean people that I solidly like and struck up conversations with and danced the night away with only to date them long term. Yes, you too, can have a conversation in a bar with an intelligent and like-​minded individual.