The MIT Ballroom Dance Team marked the beginning of their competitive season by busing, driving, walking, running, and dancing their way down to Harvard earlier this month to compete at the annual Harvard Beginners competition. Held for the second year in a row at Cambridge Rindge and and Latin School, Harvard Beginners hosted newcomer and syllabus-level dances in all four styles.

The MITBDT rookies – after training for one month – took Harvard by storm, claiming three spots in the finals for American Swing, two in International Rumba, five in International Waltz, and a whooping six in American Foxtrot. Many MIT couples also placed in bronze, silver, and gold events.

As it has in the years before, Harvard Beginners ended on a fun and goofy note, with the Rookie-Vet team match. Our month-old rookies danced with enthusiastic vets, donning a variety of costumes and frolicking across the dance floor.

Much fun was hand, and we can’t wait to come back next year!

Despite the gloomy, chilly weather we were having, Lobby 13 was filled with the bright sounds of our Dance Camp attendees laughing and chattering as they learned some Latin moves from Coach Armin Kappacher.

Armin teaching Dance Camp 2013.

Armin taught two hour-long classes – one Rumba, one Swing – with the precision that he is known for. “I loved Armin!” one attendee commented, “He was so sassy, and the class was so much fun. At one point he said, ‘Silence. To even be a mediocre dancer, you need to have self-discipline.’ It was great.” And so, with his words of wisdom, Armin guided the attendees through their first rumba walks, their first few steps in swing, and their first Latin routine.

As with our first day of Dance Camp, our Latin Night featured performances by our talented yearlings and veteran dancers. In addition to showcasing the Rumba and Swing that the attendees learned, they also sauntered around the room with an energetic Samba.

Unfortunately, as with all things, another fun night and successful day at Dance Camp came to an end. We were sad to see all of you go, but we hope to see you again this Saturday at Walker Gym for our Team Match! You will get to pair up with a veteran team member and dance in a “competition” as hosted by our team. If you don’t want to come for the competition, then come for the pizza and stay for the dancing!

Over one hundred MIT and Wellesley students and affiliates joined us for a magical night of ballroom dancing at Morss Hall.

Larinda McRaven introduced some basic steps from American Foxtrot, and Mark Sheldon taught an hour-long class on International Waltz. Within minutes, everyone was dancing to music, jiving with Sinatra and swirling around the room to Mark’s “one-two-three” counts.

Okay, to be honest, that was kind of an exaggeration. However, our first-time dancers were able to navigate throughout the floor with some grace – a great achievement for only one hour of instruction.

The two lessons were interspaced with three performances by our yearling and veteran team members. Their dancing was met with loud cheers and applause from the inspired onlookers. “It was actually kind of a frightening experience,” yearling Ross Finman commented. “But it was great to see how far I’ve come in the last year.”

Dance Camp 2013

We hope to see you at our next Dance Camp event this Thursday at Lobby 13 for some sassy Rumba and Swing lessons with Armin Kappacher, our inspirational Latin coach!

Hello Dancers!

Get out your calendars! The MIT Ballroom Dance Team is thrilled to announce the 2014 MIT OPEN will be taking place on the weekend of April 25-27th, 2014 in Rockwell Cage on MIT Campus.

Please stay tuned for more updates in the months to come.

http://ballroom.mit.edu/comp/

MIT’s Ballroom Dance Team was selected as one of the four finalists – and the only university ballroom dance team! – for the contest Quickstep for Kindness. Quickstep for Kindness encourages young dancers and teams/clubs to go out into their communities and spread goodwill and benevolence through ballroom dancing. The entries were 60 second original videos showing how each organization’s passion for dance was being used to help their communities. The MIT team’s submission can be found here, and more information about the contest can be found here.

The MIT Ballroom Dance team hosted their annual ballroom competition on April 27 & 28. Nearly 1,000 dancers competed for scholarships and trophies. Competitors and spectators were also treated to breathtaking showcase by 2011 WDSF World Professional Standard Champions Paolo Bosco & Joanne Clifton.

See pictures of the show and competition on Boston.com!

And a picture of the show couple was featured on the front page of the MIT student news paper The Tech.

Check out the article about our team of dancing engineers on the MITnews website!