For more than an hour at the start of the Hearts Party, the dance floor is empty. A typical beginning for any part Loud club music thump-thump-thumps insistently, but none of the partiers feels moved to dance.
They're shy. And many haven't even arrived yet. Overhead, green laser beams criss-cross in quick-changing complicated patterns. But there's a sense of aimlessness to the scene. The party has begun--and it hasn't.
Finally, a dozen or so partiers get up the courage to take to the floor. Actually, they half-dance and half-talk to each other. It's a way of feeling less on the spot, less self-conscious. The Hearts Party, held this year on Valentine's Day at the Uptown Theatre, is one of the stops on an informal international circuit of more than 60 annual events for gay men, many of which are fundraisers for AIDS research and support services.
These circuit parties include ski trips, beach festivals and boat cruises. But, mostly, they're large, loud, crowded dances. Demeny, who devotes most of his vacation time and long weekends to circuit parties, attending four or five a year, has made friends in cities throughout the nation.
The phenomenon of the circuit--a series of parties attracting gay men from around the country and the world--began about 10 years ago, although many of the parties themselves date back to the early s or even the late s. A year's worth of circuit parties attracts an estimated , to , men. The largest party is the Black and Blue in Montreal with 8, attendees. In terms of attendance, the Hearts Party dance is a second-tier event with some 2, participants, at least half from out of town.
