I’m sitting on a ratty couch in Reed’s student union, here to check out a fundraiser for Charles Lewis’ city council campaign.

I almost couldn’t find it—this is my first time on Reed’s campus, and the student union’s buried in the middle. Rushing to the building, running late, I wondered how many kids would bother to trek to SE and track down the same space, for a political fundraiser.

It turns out, a hell of a lot of them. The student union space—the size of a small gymnasium—is packed with teenagers (and a handful of adults and smaller kids) all clustered around four open circles, like spectators around circus rings. In the back of the room, a DJ’s keeping up a consistent beat.

But these kids aren’t here for Charles Lewis, even if some of them (those over 18, at least) donated $5 and their signature to his bid for public financing (alternatively, they could drop $7 toward Ethos, the non-profit music program Lewis founded; Reedies paid $3).

Nope—they’re here for the dancing. It’s freakin’ impressive. Dancers take turns dropping into the open circles, execute a handful of fluid moves, and sidle back out so someone else can have a turn. The rest of us watch in awe.

Sponsored in part by those behind the Pizzazz! 2007 champs Moon Patrol, this is apparently a seventh annual event—and they picked Ethos and Lewis to benefit this year, he told me on Thursday night (responding to an earlier blog comment here that he was using Ethos for his campaign’s gain, an accusation he firmly denies).

I’m off to find Lewis—who collected roughly 55 signatures at the door tonight, toward the 1000 he needs—and see if he’ll bust a few moves.