In the air tonight | SummerDance

There are a few things worth getting out of the way about SummerDance's electronic dance night's line-up this year. The DJ night, which kicks off its second season on June 15, is not exactly progressive in terms of gender representation. There are precisely zero women scheduled to spin in any of the Wednesday night slots during the 11-week festival. Organizer Brian Keigher of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs acknowledges this but also mentions that only one female DJ (Margaret Noble) submitted mixes this year and that last year, six women (hometown heroes The Superjane Collective, Teri Bristol and Psycho Bitch) figured prominently in the schedule.

The series is also massively tilted toward Chicago house music: Jesse Saunders, Farley "Jack Master" Funk, Maurice Joshua, Jeff Mills, Paul Johnson, Ron Trent are all onboard. Ironically, Keigher, who spun with the likes of Luke Vibert years ago, prefers abstract techno, but for the 2005 series he's out to make a point–educate, even. "I feel like I am still trying to pay some dues that are long overdue in this city and acknowledge Chicago house music, which is the precursor to much of the electronic music that people listen to today," he says.

Many of the DJs Keigher had on his wish list actually found him first. Jeff Mills's wife, for instance, came out every Wednesday last year and made the pitch for him. Farley "Jackmaster" Funk made direct contact about hopping on the bill with the legendary Frankie Knuckles, which didn't happen. Instead, Keigher gives the living legend the final headlining spot on closing night, August 24. Glenn Underground, slated to spin July 6, also made contact during last year's festival.

The DJ/dance Wednesday nights were overwhelmingly the most popular of 2004's SummerDance, drawing around 3,000 people to Grant Park's Spirit of Music Garden. Playing SummerDance has become an informal badge of honor for Chicago DJs, not unlike a kind of hall-of-fame induction. "[Some] people were offended that they weren't onboard last year," Keigher says.

The house emphasis is no accident. Keigher worries that those that came of age with trance or Fatboy Slim have no clue where electronic dance came from. "I was talking to somebody who grew up in the Paul Van Dyk/Sasha & Digweed era and they'd never heard of Marshall Jefferson," says Keigher. "That's a shame, know what I mean? I feel a responsibility to shine a light on Chicago house music and educate the masses." And so, Marshall Jefferson, who hasn't spun in Chicago in years, is flying over from the U.K. with help of the relaunched Trax Records.

But there's another concern in Keigher's booking choices: Too many people. He turned down stars Mark Farina and Felix Da Housecat for fear that the swelling crowds would be destructive. "Last year, we did some significant damage to the park itself, either stomping through the flower beds or not canceling the Frankie Knuckles concert when it rained and turned into a mudfest."

Ideally, Keigher wants to break popular stereotypes about dance music and give DJs a rare opportunity to perform for the older and younger generations, grandmothers and nieces and nephews who don't hang out in over-21 clubs at 2am. The house nights have a "family vibe" that serves both purposes.

Keigher launched the dance night when SummerDance mastermind Michael Orlov, himself a product of the house era, gave Keigher the thumbs up to create the DJ night Orlov had been thinking about. According to Keigher, the city still needed some convincing. "When I proposed this whole idea of adding the DJ series to the already established dance series, the marketing people said, 'How are you going to build an audience for this?' They didn't know how overdue this whole acknowledgement was." Keigher's miniscule budget can cover nominal DJ fees, but not heavy promotion.

Not that it's needed. In years future, Keigher plans to diversify the night and spotlight techno, drum 'n' bass, acid and other genres which might prove more challenging. After this summer, all that griping that Chicago never gives back any love to the original architects of house will come to an abrupt end.SummerDance begins Wednesday 15. See listings. For more on SummerDance, "Not strictly ballroom".