About the Team
Ballroom at MIT is represented by two organizations: the Ballroom Dance Team (us) and the Ballroom Dance Club. The team promotes competitive ballroom dancing at MIT. The club fosters social ballroom dancing.
Our Team
We are the MIT Ballroom Dance Team, an organization of MIT students and affiliates who love competitive ballroom dancing. We help our members improve their dancing technique and support their participation in ballroom dance competitions. We encourage anyone in the MIT community to join us as long as you have an interest in competitive ballroom dance, whether you have any dance experience or not. In fact, most of our new team members joined without any dance experience of any type. There are no try outs — we welcome anyone with an interest.
Instruction
We offer both professionally-taught and amateur-taught group classes each week in multiple styles and across multiple proficiency levels, plus supervised practice time from the veterans on our team. Our members also practice privately with their partners. We learn and compete in both International and American styles, and our lessons are divided evenly between the Standard/Smooth dances, and Latin/Rhythm dances. If you are unfamiliar with the dances, explore the section About Ballroom in general.
Partnerships
You don’t need a partner to join or to participate in any of our lessons or workshops. One of the advantages of being on the dance team is meeting lots of dancers who also need partners. Everyone who is just starting out will be looking for a partner too, and our veteran team members are always willing to help you find a partner. In the end, partnering decisions are completely up to you, but we are glad to help out and offer advice along the way.
Competitions
Team members are required to participate in at least one competition each semester, and most choose to attend even more. Most of these competitions are held annually in the New England area by other colleges and universities. Some of these competitions are followed by shows by world-class dancers. We host our annual competition, the MIT Open, in the spring, one of the largest of its kind in the region. Check out our team’s Results page to see how we’ve done in past competitions.
Workshops and Social Dances
We organize beginner workshops, as well as monthly public social dances. All events are open to the whole MIT community and also dancers not affiliated with MIT. As with joining the team, no partner or experience is necessary to attend any of our workshops or socials. For the latest information on upcoming events, see our Events page.
Team Community
We are not only a team but a tight-knit group of friends who share a passion for dance. We often go out as a group to dance socially or just to have fun. Many team members also cooperate with the MIT Ballroom Dance Club; we often teach lessons for them and frequent their socials as well.
Other Activities
MITBDT also participates in events sponsored by other groups at MIT and in the general community. In addition to promoting ballroom dancing, the team also participates in events on behalf of other organizations. Our team member will also share their talents with the community through performances for nearby organizations or at local events.
