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UMass Ballroom Dance Team waltzes in a new year
UMass Ballroom Dance offers lesson, recreational dancing and competition to the five college community.
The truest expression of a people is in its dance and in its music. Bodies never lie.-Agnes de Mille
It was Mark Twain who once remarked, “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” His insight applies still to the curriculum on today’s campuses: thousands of courses offered in scores of departments, keeping pace with a world grown very complex. The classical trinity of knowing Truth, Beauty, and the Good are now seldom found in one course in one semester. Yet education needn’t be fragmented, and indeed, needn’t be only in the classroom. One form of education - classical in many senses, yet social and fun for beginners and experts alike - is ballroom dance. And it takes place at least once a week, hosted by the UMass Ballroom Dance Team (UMBDT).
Active for over twenty years, UMass Ballroom Dance has introduced and trained members of all the Five Colleges and the local community to the beauty, challenge, and joy of both social and competitive dancing. Every Monday night, the Ballroom Dance Club offers lessons - sometimes to over 100 enthusiasts - covering the whole range of social dance styles, from the classics of Waltz, Foxtrot, and Tango, to the expressive styles of Rumba, Cha-Cha, and Samba. For those seeking a deeper experience, the Ballroom Dance Team competes several times per semester - quite successfully - at regional and national dance competitions against hundreds of dancers from other colleges, and also provides performances in the area (Big E, Berkshire Hills Music Academy). The team’s coaches are themselves national champions, amongst the top 10 professional coaches in the US, and their studio, Ballroom Fever, has won regional awards for excellence.
To return to the education of ballroom dance: every member of UMass Ballroom Dance shares the richness and subtlety that dance gives. They have all seen what’s possible with dedication and time: stunning beauty and lyrical poetry in motion, whether in the sublime flow of Waltz, the intense beat of Samba, or the simmering passion of Tango. They have all felt the frustration of the body not yet moving with the desired grace, and accepted the humility and patience needed to improve. They have all danced under the lights and critical scrutiny of competition, cheering our friends on as they showcase hours of training. And they have all taken responsibility for creating something with their partners that neither person could do alone, a cooperation glimpsed only fleetingly in the public etiquette and rituals. Indeed, there are few activities where men and women work so closely as peers, revealing character with unending challenges on and off the dance floor. How they deal with those challenges - to do better when the best is not yet good enough - is a question all serious teachers and students learn to welcome. Dancing is a superb mirror for life: bodies tell truths - and humor - above and beyond what words convey.
To experience what - and who - ballroom dancing can bring into your life, the UMBDT will be holding tryouts Tuesday, February 7, at 6:45 p.m. in the Student Union Ballroom. No experience or partners are necessary. The UMBDT also offers social dancing and a lesson every Monday night throughout the semester, e-mail UMassBallroom@gmail.com to be added to the mailing list.
more:UMass Amherst Ballroom Dance