Hello Hanover!
The most fun activity I participate in is the Ballroom Dance Association (BDA), where I am currently the president. It seems like a full-time job of planning events, coordinating times and people, and coming up with creative ways to publicize ballroom to the community, while at the same time trying to learn to dance myself.
Chase Abell is showing me the proper dance position.
One of the new events the group is hosting is called Panther Promenade. It is a dance party and will take place in Collier Arena Nov. 14 (Parent’s Day) from 7:00 – 10:00 p.m. It is free to any student, all Hanover faculty and staff, and only $5.00 for all other guests.
I am personally very excited to host this event as I hope it is a huge success for the group. The overall goal of the group is to bring social dance opportunities to campus or take our students to them. We have invited such groups as the USA Dance chapters of Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Louisville, various dance studios in those three cities, and surrounding colleges that also host ballroom clubs for their students. We do not expect everyone we invited to attend because it is a long drive for some people. However, the college community is also invited as well as the Hanover and Madison communities.
Come dance with us!
Even if you do not know how to dance, dancers are great about sharing their knowledge and we will also host a dance lesson by BDA instructor Chase Abell. It will be a beginners Rumba, which is always a fun dance to learn.
We will play music that we hear every day on the radio plus some oldies but goodies. It will be a general mix of Latin and Ballroom dances also. This may not mean much but some common Latin dances include the salsa, samba, rumba, mambo, hustle, jive and swing. The waltz, foxtrot, tango and quickstep come from the ballroom tradition.
I really hope that current reality TV shows like Dancing with the Stars (my personal favorite- go Mya!) and So You Think You Can Dance pique the interest of people enough to want to go out and see for themselves what they are missing where it concerns the world of dance. Dance has so many negative stereotypes but it is actually a great sport that is a lifelong activity- much like bowling. It is great for building endurance, agility and just overall health. I can say, from experience, that after you have danced the cha cha for 10 minutes, you feel as if you have shed pounds, built muscle, and grown a new set of lungs. Ballroom does not have to be intense though.
Dance can also be very relaxing, especially if you have a partner. The waltz is probably my favorite of the ballroom dances. I also have a favorite pro couple I enjoy watching, William Pino and Alessandra Bucciarelli. They perform the absolute best dances I have ever seen. It is so sad that they have since retired.
At any rate, I hope that you can all get out and attend our great, new event- I forgot to mention that it is also a cultural event (for those students to whom it applies). So, come dance with us!
For more information about the free group lessons or about any events- check out our website at www.hcballroom.org.
