One of the Ballroom Dance Team’s primary goals is to reach out to the Ann Arbor and University communities that have invested so much in us. We showcase for other student organizations, host workshops of affordable, small-group dance lessons, and we have recently started a new project to give free ballroom dance lessons to Ann Arbor high schools. If your organization would like to become partners with us in our community outreach efforts, or would like our team to perform at one of your events, please contact us.
High School Outreach Program
In an effort to reach out to the community as meaningfully as possible, the Ballroom Dance Team offers High School Students in the Ann Arbor school district the opportunity to take a ballroom dance class. These classes are instructed by team members, who have adequate expereince, and both the passion and willingness to serve the community and share ballrom dancing with others. In the 2009-2010 school year, high school students can take a ballroom dance class through Community High Schoool free of charge and fulfil a physical education requirement.
Fall 2009 class:
The Ballroom Dance Team has been successful in our high school outreach program! In the fall of 2009, we taught a class of 35 students at Community High School. The students loved the class! We taught them a variety of dances including the waltz, tango, foxtrot, quickstep, chacha, rumba, samba, swing, as well as social dances such as the Merengue and Hustle. From not knowing how to dance to being able to dance more than ten ballroom dances, the students are learning the grace and art of ballroom dancing. They were able to use what they learned and performed individual showcases as well as a tango formation.
Special thanks to Mark Rudolf, Karen Ye, Alex Rowan, Jennifer Chen, Malin Noreeen, Vincent Zhang, Fernando Rivero, Kevin Torrico, Carey Goenka, and Daisy Howlind for helping the team out in teaching this semester.
We look forward to another great semester with a fresh group of students this winter of 2010!
Tango Formation Group 1: Midterm Showcases:
Please check our media section for more pictures and videos.
THE COMMUNICATOR
Not only were the students enthusiastic about this class, the faculty and staff was as well. The class appeared on the front page of the school newspaper, the Communicator. Below is the spread about the ballroom dance class in the Communicator:
ALSO APPEARS IN THE COMMUNICATOR, VOLUME XXIV EDITION 2
During registration, Emma Huntley, a senior, was hesitant to sign up for Ballroom Dance. Like many of the others who decided to take it, Emma saw it as an easy P.E. credit.
“I thought it would be really lame, but then the instructors came in and did a demo on the third floor ledge, and it was really, really awesome. It was intimidating though,” Huntley said.
Now, Emma – along with the majority of the class – is up and moving, even before the instructors come. “I feel like everyone in here is more comfortable because we’re all at the same level,” said Megan Shipplett, a junior. “There isn’t really any more awkwardness. We’re having a really good time.”
Dancing isn’t just a good way to get credit – Austin Hughes, a senior, said he feels more confident in himself. “There isn’t really a downside to having these skills… I can’t wait for prom. It’s going to be awesome.” Austin and his group are practicing a routine they choreographed themselves.
Standing in a diamond of four pairs, the group mumbles “T-A-N-G-O” to match the beat; and their moves are effortless. At the middle of the quarter the class split into groups and put on performances for each other. The class has learned the cha-cha, rumba, tango, waltz, swing, and many others.
Unlike the beginning of the term, sweaty hands are a thing of the past. These kids don’t step on each other’s feet.
