Ballroom Dance Club cuts a rug

The Indiana Memorial Union is generally a quiet place on Sunday nights. The usually overcrowded eateries are closed and the phenomenon of strangely-contorted sleeping students on Mezzanine-level couches is on hold until the next morning.

The Union is quiet on Sunday nights, unless the IU Ballroom Dance Club is out to bring in new members.

The relatively new group met for the first time this year on Sunday in Alumni Hall and called on anyone with an interest in ballroom dance to join them. Club President and senior Sarah Hoffman has big hopes for the group this year. As the group grows, so do the possibilities for community outings and events.

“We’d love to attract the interest of Greek organizations and other groups,” she said. “We think that’d be a lot of fun.”

As the evening went on, it became clear why. The club put forth a unique and exciting event, and they seemed to do it with ease. While the men in the room stood at one side and the women at the other, club member and junior Steve Torres stood in the middle, calmly teaching dance steps to a large group. As if this wasn’t hard enough, when Torres was finished some 40 minutes later, the group had a short sequence of dance moves to add to their array.

New members used these to build on as they moved and met people on the dance floor throughout the evening.

“You get to dance with someone new every time,” said sophomore Jason Pastrana, a member of the group, when asked what he enjoyed about participating.

While members had the opportunity to reunite and share a dance floor for the first time this year, it was also the group’s call-out meeting, meaning many in attendance had never experienced a ballroom dance club event before.

Like many of these potential members, freshman Danielle Rindler said she had taken jazz and tap, but never had the chance to try ballroom.

Others simply wanted to avoid homework on a Sunday night or meet a few new people. Whatever the case, the club caught their attention.

The dance party continued into the night with experienced dancers showing off impressive moves between showing newer dancers the basics.

About halfway through, those in attendance enjoyed several thrilling demonstrations from Torres and senior dance partner  Casey Green, vice president of the group. This was followed by an exciting rendition of the cha-cha performed by senior Philip Lincoln and senior Samantha Croy. New and old, everyone seemed to catch on quickly – including the notable non-student population. Soon everyone had at least a few go-to moves to work with.

“It’s all just about dancing and making really great friends,” said junior Clint Maddy, breathing a little harder after demonstrating complex steps to eager learners.

Maddy, along with other members of the club, also participates in the University’s competitive dance team, IU Dancesport. The team competes all over the region, most notably against rivals at Purdue. Maddy said he hopes that this year the two organizations can build off each other even more than they already have.

The club meets every Thursday from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. in HPER 171. More information on Tuesday dance lessons in HPER 169 will be available soon. To learn more, visit the group’s Web site at http://www.indiana.edu/~dance/.

The next social dance will be a Halloween dance on Sunday, Oct. 26 in the IMU Alumni Hall.