Seasoned politician takes to dance floor

CHECKING out hip-hot niterie JJ's late the other night to see if there were any goings-on on the caliginously lit dance floor that you, dear readers, need to be kept abreast of, Keeping Posted came upon the portly figure of Gianni de Michelis, the erstwhile foreign minister of Italy.

The setting was not entirely incongruous, for although fiftysomething de Michelis is a seasoned politician (he was also deputy PM for a brief time) his most important contribution to the betterment of his fellow man was a well-researched book on the discotheques of Europe.

In fact, in a previous incarnation this columnist once had to spend all night at Tramps - the nocturnal home of sophisticated London society - to chronicle how the rotund and craggy-haired de Michelis fared on the dance floor (extremely well, by the way).

Interestingly, at JJ's the ex-cabinet minister was in animated conversation with local Italianate night-owl Raimondo Chiodi, who is on first name terms with the doormen of the more select nightspots around town.

Since at times their expressions were quite grave, we are beginning to wonder whether de Michelis is planning to collaborate with Chiodi on a book about the discotheques of Asia.