Copyright 2006 Chicago Tribune Company
                                Chicago Tribune

                             July 20, 2006 Thursday
                           North Shore Final Edition

SECTION:  METRO ; Pg. 1

LENGTH: 799 words

HEADLINE: Dazzling display of symmetry in motion;
In figure skating and ballroom dancing, same-sex couples get a chance to shine

BYLINE: By Josh Noel and Miriah Meyer, Tribune staff reporters.

BODY:

   Fleeing her partner's advances as part of an ice-skating routine, Jen Capps
sped to the far end of the rink. Rose in hand, her partner followed. Finally,
after several choreographed rejections, Capps was worn down.

   And the women kissed.

   In a weeklong event where it is usually difficult to detect anything
different about the competition--Gay Games tennis players look about like any
other tennis players--same-sex pairs figure skating and ballroom dancing, both
staged Wednesday, are unmistakably, incontrovertibly gay. They are also among
the most popular events for spectators.

   "This is definitely the most visible as a gay sport," said Mario Stiller, 36,
of Germany, who danced with his partner of nine years. "I know the only people
who would come are the ones who would tolerate it. But the people who would not
tolerate it, I don't worry about them."

   The events also provide one of the precious few venues for same-sex couples
to participate in activities such as figure skating and ballroom dancing without
enduring jeers or sideways glances. In fact, they get raucous cheers.

   "That they can for once hold hands with a man here is uplifting," said Stina
Rogal, co-organizer of the Gay Games figure-skating competition. "It makes all
the years they spent working as hard as anyone else pay off."

   At the downtown Hilton Chicago, women twirled women while wearing matching
sequined dresses or with one dressed conservatively as the leader and the
follower in an outfit covering precious little skin.

   Men spun across the floor with other men, sometimes dressed in identical
crisp gray suits or black tuxedos. One follower wore a flowing pink scarf that
trailed behind him on the dance floor.

   The differences don't end with the costumes--a two-man partnership can come
off as faster, stronger and sharper than a man and a woman, dancers said.

   "If two men dance Latin together, it's very powerful," said Ursula Hegglin,
40, of Switzerland. "Their elegance across the floor is marvelous."

   And two women can be a more graceful pairing.

   Hegglin and Loredana Conte, 45, who are dance partners and a romantic couple,
wore matching one-piece jumpsuits--Hegglin in pink and Conte in black.

   "She leads and I follow," Hegglin said. "It's great to be here with these
people and do what we feel like doing."

   The same-sex pairing allows the dancers to switch roles in mid-routine--which
sometimes results in bonus points from judges. One couple said they switch off
as leader and follower five or six times in a single dance.

   Another team, Latin dance veterans from New York, said dancing as a same-sex
couple offers more options than in traditional ballroom dancing.

   "You can show so many more things and be so much more versatile with your
dance," said Jacob Jason, 26, who danced with Willem Devries, also 26. "It's
much more artistic."

   But there can be difficulties as well. Men need to adjust to dancing with a
partner who has equally big hands. And the difficulty for women? Well, four
breasts take up more room than two in close dance positions, said Tara Walsh,
34, of northern California.

   As teams shared the dance floor in groups of about five, few routines went by
without being photographed or videotaped by a sold-out crowd in the ballroom.

   "There's something really sweet about watching all these same-sex couples
dancing together," said Katherine Parker, 32, an Iowa City artist who was
watching a friend compete. "Because it's one of the few venues they have to
compete with each other, it's really important for me to support this ethically.
"

   Americans who had to go to the Sydney Gay Games four years ago if they wanted
to compete in same-sex dancing said the number of such competitions is slowly
growing.

   Camille Wojtasiak and Kilee Cooper, competitors who own a dance studio in
Sacramento that they say is the nation's largest for same-sex pairs, said they
have been invited to perform several times outside the gay community and have
been taking part in more competitions.

   "We've done some competitions where it felt uncomfortable, but we haven't had
that feeling in a long time," said Cooper, who is straight. "The scene in the
U.S. is more developed now."

   At the McFetridge Sports Center ice rink, Capps and her girlfriend of five
years, Jill Ahlbrecht, performed together for just the second time ever.

   Still, their difficulties on the ice have typically been over acceptance,
rather than technical issues.

   Though openly gay, the Denver women did something in their routine they
wouldn't dare try at the rink near their home: skate in each other's arms, hold
hands and share a quick peck on the lips.

   At their home rink, they have practiced basic moves, but nothing
more--especially not that kiss.

   "It's kind of scary," Ahlbrecht said. "It would be pushing the envelope."