from wellesleynewonline.com:
By Anna Tupper-Bridges '14
Copy Editor
Moments before a ballroom dance competition starts, the dancers take a deep breath, stand up straight, and, according to dancer Lena Mironciuc '13, "find themselves." Then, they focus on their partners. "It's magical, it feels so good when it's done right," Mironciuc said.
Getting that moment right, however, takes more time than some may think. Dancers on the MIT Ballroom Dance Team often practice three hours a day, five days a week, in addition to five hours each on Saturday and Sunday. The 15 Wellesley dancers on the team travel two hours each day to get to MIT and back.
At practice, the dancers, who (about 100 in number), dance four different styles of dance: International Latin, American Latin, International Standard and American Standard. Latin styles include the rumba, cha-cha, jive and samba. American styles include waltz, foxtrot and smooth. Each person typically dances one or two styles and has one partner per style.
Mironciuc describes the intense, time-consuming partner relationship by saying, "it's like marriage except for not." Partners spend hours on end with each other dancing in the MIT student center or other buildings on the MIT campus. Co-captain Rebecca Graber '11 attributes the team's cohesiveness to the numerous hours spent together. "I cemented a lot of my closest friendships at Wellesley via post-practice gossip sessions on the Exchange bus. Whenever two team members get together, talk always turns to ballroom, no matter where they are or what they're doing."
The team, which is composed of both undergraduates and graduate students, is coached by a variety of professional dancers. Coaches are national champions who hold titles such as "US Representative to the World Senior Championship" (Didi von Deck) and "North American Champion" (Larina McRaven). Mironciuc says the coaches are "very strict about practicing" but also excellent teachers.
Team members typically compete several times a semester for both semesters. They travel to schools on the East Coast such as Harvard, UConn, Brown, Yale and Columbia. Couples are the only ones who have scores, not teams. Couples are entered in one of five divisions: Rookie, Bronze, Silver, Gold or Open. All dancers begin at the Rookie level until the end of their first semester dancing. Once in Bronze, they advance to the Silver level either by dancing for an additional two semesters or by earning seven points, which are earned by either winning first (three points), second (two points) or third (one point) place in a competition. In order to move up to Gold, they must earn seven points, and the same applies to Open. Once dancers reach the Open level, they have much more freedom with respect to the types of moves they can perform on the dance floor.
The Rookie and Bronze levels typically have the largest number of participants. So far this year, a few newcomers have already won first place in their competitions. "I'd say we're headed for a pretty solid run," Graber said. Mironciuc, too, has had strong performances this season. She placed first in the International Silver Cha-Cha/Rumba event and first in the International Silver Samba/Jive event (both times dancing with Anthony Kozloff) at the UConn Husky Classic. Up to 800 couples will participate in any given competition.
For Mironciuc, competitions make the numerous hours of practice and travel time worth it. "I love performing. I have my makeup on and costume on and I get to dance."
Moments before a ballroom dance competition starts, the dancers take a deep breath, stand up straight, and, according to dancer Lena Mironciuc '13, "find themselves." Then, they focus on their partners. "It's magical, it feels so good when it's done right," Mironciuc said.
Getting that moment right, however, takes more time than some may think. Dancers on the MIT Ballroom Dance Team often practice three hours a day, five days a week, in addition to five hours each on Saturday and Sunday. The 15 Wellesley dancers on the team travel two hours each day to get to MIT and back.
At practice, the dancers, who (about 100 in number), dance four different styles of dance: International Latin, American Latin, International Standard and American Standard. Latin styles include the rumba, cha-cha, jive and samba. American styles include waltz, foxtrot and smooth. Each person typically dances one or two styles and has one partner per style.
Mironciuc describes the intense, time-consuming partner relationship by saying, "it's like marriage except for not." Partners spend hours on end with each other dancing in the MIT student center or other buildings on the MIT campus. Co-captain Rebecca Graber '11 attributes the team's cohesiveness to the numerous hours spent together. "I cemented a lot of my closest friendships at Wellesley via post-practice gossip sessions on the Exchange bus. Whenever two team members get together, talk always turns to ballroom, no matter where they are or what they're doing."
The team, which is composed of both undergraduates and graduate students, is coached by a variety of professional dancers. Coaches are national champions who hold titles such as "US Representative to the World Senior Championship" (Didi von Deck) and "North American Champion" (Larina McRaven). Mironciuc says the coaches are "very strict about practicing" but also excellent teachers.
Team members typically compete several times a semester for both semesters. They travel to schools on the East Coast such as Harvard, UConn, Brown, Yale and Columbia. Couples are the only ones who have scores, not teams. Couples are entered in one of five divisions: Rookie, Bronze, Silver, Gold or Open. All dancers begin at the Rookie level until the end of their first semester dancing. Once in Bronze, they advance to the Silver level either by dancing for an additional two semesters or by earning seven points, which are earned by either winning first (three points), second (two points) or third (one point) place in a competition. In order to move up to Gold, they must earn seven points, and the same applies to Open. Once dancers reach the Open level, they have much more freedom with respect to the types of moves they can perform on the dance floor.
The Rookie and Bronze levels typically have the largest number of participants. So far this year, a few newcomers have already won first place in their competitions. "I'd say we're headed for a pretty solid run," Graber said. Mironciuc, too, has had strong performances this season. She placed first in the International Silver Cha-Cha/Rumba event and first in the International Silver Samba/Jive event (both times dancing with Anthony Kozloff) at the UConn Husky Classic. Up to 800 couples will participate in any given competition.
For Mironciuc, competitions make the numerous hours of practice and travel time worth it. "I love performing. I have my makeup on and costume on and I get to dance."
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