“One, two, cha-cha-cha. Three, four, cha-cha-cha,” echoes in their heads. Counting beneath their breath, they negotiate the steps, trying to connect mind and foot, avoiding their neighbor's bruised toes within ragged gym shoes.
The days of twirling couples and white gloves is once again alive at Union as the ballroom dancing club gathers each Sunday afternoon to learn new dances and practice old ones under the direction of Janice Holik, an instructor affiliated with a local dance studio.
Throughout America-from college classrooms to local community centers-ballroom dancing is back after nearly forty years of decline, and couples once again are dancing the tango, the fox trot, and the mambo beneath glittering lights. Surprisingly, college students are some of the most enthusiastic dancers; over the past ten years, the United States Amateur Ballroom Dancers Association has seen a sixfold increase in youthful registrants.
So what is the attraction, and why are Union students enticed?
Some say young people's attraction to the romance and elegance of ballroom dancing reflects a general desire to return to a more conservative time. Others contest that young dancers look to ballroom dancing as a safe way to meet people, and Holik says that it is just “more fun” than other types of dancing.
Union students agree that they ballroom dance just because it's fun.
Michael Greenbaum '97, one of the leaders of Union's four-year-old ballroom dancing club, says that he dances simply because he enjoys it.
“It's fun to do, it really is,” he says. “Once you start learning
the moves and feel like you're in control of the dance instead of struggling to think of what to do next, it flows very nicely and it's just really fun.”
Kim Kilby '00 says that she joined the ballroom dancing club because it “sounded fun. I like to dance and I've always wanted to know how to ballroom dance.”
Brian Jaecker '98 figured that ballroom dancing “would be something good to learn,” and he's been dancing for more than a year.
Holik loves teaching Union students, who learn the dances quickly, but forget them quickly, too. “I love to watch them start when they have never danced before,” she says. “They are a bit shy and hesitant, but then it's great to see them learn that they can dance.”
For the first time in the ballroom dancing club's young life at Union, students are taking what they learn from the classroom to the dance floor. One chilly evening recently, twelve members of the club traveled to nearby RPI for a dance. Another night, they went to the Crooked Lake House, a restaurant that hosts ballroom dancing with live big band music. Later this year, the group plans to host a dance, inviting the ballroom dancing clubs of neighboring colleges.
Kilby says that for her the best part of the club is practicing what's been learned on the excursions.
As we think about ballroom dancing, most of us probably envision lovely young couples magically becoming part of
the music, men gracefully guiding their partners around the dance floor.
Laughing, Greenbaum admits that this is not always the case. He says that Union's ballroom dancing club is inexperienced
but enthusiastic. “When you first start ballroom dancing, it is difficult to get the steps down and you won't be graceful,” he says.
So are the students intimidated? Afraid? No, Greenbaum says. “You just get up there and dance,” he explains. And he says that most really love it.
In fact, Jaecker says that what he likes best about ballroom dancing is the learning process.
It is evident that Greenbaum, a four-year veteran of ballroom dancing, is excited at the possibility of an intermediate class. “The goal of the intermediate class would be to add to the basic steps so that people won't feel like they're being boring dance partners,” Greenbaum explains.