Competing at the newcomer, bronze and silver levels in a variety of dances, the Ballroom Team sent the majority of their couples to at least one callback. In addition, the couple of Alberto Vazquez, Spanish Language Assistant, and Ilana Ventura ’12 made it to the newcomer quarterfinals in cha-cha/rumba, and another couple, Michelle Li ’12 and Dang Hong Trinh ’12, qualified for the bronze-level semifinals in tango.
The Ballroom Team was originally part of the Swing and Ballroom Club but split off earlier this year to become a competitive team, a transition to which many of the team members have spent the past semester adjusting.
“[The split] gave us the opportunity to invest money in more competitions and to aim at a higher level,” said team tri-captain Irina Troconis ’11. “For next semester, we’ll have a budget of our own and … hopefully that will help the team grow up. We’re trying to make the transition from something fun to something more serious and competitive. Hopefully, the competition inspired people to put more effort into the competitive side of the team.”
For Trinh, the achievement of making semifinals will only help spur him on to greater results. He and his partner practiced for an average of eight hours a week before the competition.
“I feel really rewarded,” he said. “Other teams had people who had practiced for years, and to be called back with them makes me feel really good. It gives us something to work on. For me in particular, it’s not about winning. It just means that there’s more improvement, and I really enjoy dancing with [Li].”
Vazquez, who has only been dancing for five weeks, was amazed by the high level of many of the dancers.
“It was impressive seeing how far people can get [by] putting in all that effort,” he said. “It’s impressive seeing the higher levels. When my sister heard about me dancing, she was surprised, but at the same time she wanted me to teach her how to dance.”
For Troconis, the competition was, above all, a learning experience but also an opportunity to see how far many of the dancers she had captained and taught since their first steps had come.
“It was a great experience in the sense that I got to see what the real thing is,” she said. “Personally, I got to learn a lot from the people who beat my butt in competition. Ultimately, both as a captain and as a dancer, that’s what you want to do. If that’s what it takes, that’s what it takes. For me, it was very good to see newcomers that I saw when they [first] came in making it to callbacks. It’s almost a matter of motherly pride to see them because I saw them from the beginning. That’s ultimately more gratifying than me myself winning something.”