The clothing company's television commercials, showing khaki-clad couples jumpin' and jivin', have light- and leadfoots alike hopping to swing dance classes.

But there's another thing to that swing, and it's slowly leading couples onto the floor.

Care to take a turn around the ballroom?

Plenty of Rogue Valley singles and couples do.

"All of a sudden, there's an interest in social dancing. You've seen that Gap commercial? That did it ... all of a sudden, dancing is cool," said Esther Freeman of Jacksonville.

She added that the roster of Rogue Valley dance classes and social dances now includes, besides swing (including Lindy and jive styles), "smooth" ballroom dances (foxtrot, waltz, rhumba) and Latin dances (cha cha, salsa, mambo).

An ardent dancer, Freeman is secretary not only of the Southern Oregon Chapter of the U.S. Amateur Ballroom Dancers Association, but of the national group as well.

"Two generations, almost three, have missed out partner dancing," Freeman pointed out.

The association hopes to reintroduce the experience. With 20,000 members nationwide and more than 150 in the 3-year-old local chapter, there's a new corps of aspiring Freds and Gingers. And the club welcomes more.

You don't have to be all white tie and tails to reap the benefits of the waltz, foxtrot or samba. That's a myth, one on a long list, the chapter wants to dispel.

"For years, they (dance instructors) didn't make dancing look fun or easy," said Darlene Chapman, president of the local USABDA chapter. "They made it look like you needed lots of money to be accomplished. Dancing is really very easy, and shouldn't carry the connotation that it's complicated or expensive to be a good social dancer."

"The level that you're at is where you need to enjoy it," added Freeman.

And there's room for all levels in the chapter, the women say, as well as all ages. Youngsters and seniors alike are showing renewed interest in the niceties of couple dancing.

Those niceties are part of the appeal, Chapman said.

"It's good exercise, a good clean sport ... it improves (young people's) popularity and their social skills, and their sense of well-being. If you become accomplished at social dancing, you feel so much better about yourself," she said.

Sport? You bet your merengue. The International Marketing Group, the world's largest sports marketing firm, first brought golf to television and it's now bringing dance. NBC recently broadcast a national ballroom dance event and IMG wants to bring two more to national television before the end of the year.

Enthusiasts the world over are also lobbying for the inclusion of ballroom dance in the Olympics. USABDA formed in 1965 to promote the acceptance of ballroom dance in the Olympics; so far, the International Olympic Commission has agreed to recognize it but the American commission has not. Several countries entered competitors in the 1997 World Games in Finland, and ballroom dancers will grace the Asian Games in Thailand in December.

All that sends local USABDA members on a mission: Should the Americans sanction ballroom dance, competitors must be association members to take part.

"We see our job as a local chapter to expand dancing and to encourage more youngsters to get involved, and more families involved," Chapman said.

Even if they aren't bound for an international dance floor, Chapman and Freeman agree students of social dance will reap rewards nonetheless.

"There's only a few basics -- it's like riding a bicycle. Once you have those basics down, you're set," Freeman said.

Especially if you're male, Chapman said.

"It's the one place in life where men are really in demand ... other than the battle front."