FEATURES
Fancy Footwork
■The Ballroom Dance Club
welcomes University students
and community members
to its Friday night dances
By Marcus Hathcock
Oregon Daily Emerald
Slow... slow... quick, quick.
More than 100 synchronized feet
shuffle across the hardwood floors
on Nov. 16 while doing the box
step in 220 Gerlinger.
It’s just another Friday night for
the Oregon Ballroom Dance Club,
as the Cuban dance known as the
rumba comes alive.
This fancy footwork does
n’t occur solely during spe
cial occasions or during De
partment of Dance classes.
With the exception of some
holiday weekends, the OBDC
hosts a dance in Gerlinger Hall
every Friday night. These dances,
which usually run from 7:30 to
11:30 p.m., start with beginning
and intermediate dance lessons,
followed by a three-hour open
dance.
Although the
OBDC is a registered
student group in the
ASUO, the benefits
of the club aren’t
reserved for Uni
versity students.
Regardless of age
or school atten
dance, anyone
can attend an OBDC
dance, group president, Selina
Braun said.
Braun said about half qf those
who attend the functions ate Uni
versity students. Virtually 'every
age range was represented aKthe
Nov. 16 dance. \
“We used to say the age range
was between 15 and 50,” said Lane
Community College freshman
Zane Hart.
“But now,
it looks a
lot more
like be
tween 5
and 90. It’s
a
eclectic
mix of
r
people.”
Friday night dances start
with an hourlong lesson.
Braun said most people
attend the beginning les
sons, which are designed
for people who have had
little to no experience.
Two dances are taught
at each lesson.
The intermediate
lessons are aimed at individuals
who have a base knowledge of
certain styles of dance, and!they
build on / that
knowledge t6 give
participants
greater y ability
wit biff that
dance style.
B Braun said.
& jS|§' “(Dance)
classes are
only two
hours
week,” former Uni
versity student Rob
Alba said, “^hese dances give
you a chance td build on what you
learn there.” i
Ballroom I instructor
Elizabeth Wartluft
demonstrated the rumba
a;Td the samba at the be
IrtM ginners’ lesson Nov. 16.
Wartluft taught the
ihyK dances step by step. With
in 30 minutes, the room of
amateurs danced together
with impressive accuracy.
And almost
every face in
the room
was smiling.
The smiles
only faded
slightly later
that evening,
as partici
pants at
tempted the
fast-paced samba.
“Samba is a hard
dai)Ce to begin with,”
Hart said. “(Zonstant triple steps
(three step^for two beats) are hard
to do.” /
^.tdiround 8:30 p.m., Wartluft
•tlranked the crowd for their hard
work and left them to put their
new knowledge to use. The lights
dimmed, and ballroom dance mu
sic blared as the dancing por
tion of the evening began.
“This is when it
really starts,” Hart
said.
For the rest of the
dance, the dancers
are left to their own
devices, and they
don’t necessarily
dance the style taught
in the lesson.
When the people
weren’t out on the dance floor on
Nov. 16, they were talking and
having a good time with each oth
er. “It’s just a great place to hang
out with friends and dance,”
Braun said.
Alba said he enjoyed the com
munity as well, and he claimed to
recognize one-third of the people
at the Friday night dance.
What builds such community,
Braun said, are the consistent core
of people who love to dance.
“There are definitely regulars
who are always at the dances,”
Braun said. “You can count on
them to be there and have some
one to dance with.”
People dance for many reasons,
Braun said, but her main reason is
relaxation from everyday stress.
“It’s nice to be able to just forget
about things for a few hours and to
just dance,” Braun said.
Alba and Hart said they both en
joy the workout dancing provides.
“It's fun, it doesn't take up much
time, burns up as many calories as
a StairMaster and is much more
fun,” Hart said.
Dancers pay $4 if they are stu
dents or senior citizens, or $5 if
they are from the general commu
nity. Members of the ballroom club
get free admission, Braun said.
Braun said the overall goal of
the OBDC is to promote social
dance and provide an alternative
to partying.
“We provide a drug- and alco
hol-free environment for people of
the community to come together
and have fun,” Braun said.
Emerald features reporter Marcus
Hathcock can be reached at
marcushathcock@dailyemerald.com.
1
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