Yale ballroom dancers open season in style

Yale ballroom dancers made an impression on teams around the Northeast last weekend in their first event of the year, the Harvard Beginner's Competition. Yale took fourth in the overall team competition and had individual couples placing first and fourth in swing and third in Fox Trot.

SARAH ENGLAND/YH

This weekend the team travels to the University of Connecticut for a higher-caliber competition agai-nst teams from Brown, Boston University, Har-vard, and MIT, among others.

"One school may host a competition, but we see many teams from all around the Northeast at every competition," Captain Toby Muhl-hofer, BR '01, said. "We generally compete very well, although teams from the Boston area generally have a greater advantage from the mere fact that the ballroom dancing scene is more developed there than any in other city in the region."

The dancing team recruits at the Freshman Bazaar and the Silliman ballroom dance at the beginning of the year. The team is open to anyone, and there are no auditions. Muhlhofer noted that not many people have experience coming in, but with a little practice and coordination, anyone can learn.

The team is divided into three levels" bronze, silver and gold. At each level, different steps are allowed and expected by the judges. One hundred couples compete at every level, with Yale usually comprising about one-fifth of the couples at any given event.

Competitions attract couples from schools all over the region for a mere 90 seconds of guaranteed dancing. If the duos successfully get the attention of the judges and score in the top half of all competitors, they are called back for the next 90 seconds. That cycle continues until there are only six couples left. Rankings are assigned to those top six finishers in a system similar to that of ice skating.

Costumes add another dimension to the sport. The ladies wear "really outrageous" gowns, according to Muhl-hofer. Bright-colored dresses adorned with feathers and sequins are key to capturing the judges' attention. The men are not so eye-catching, wearing black or white shirts with ties.

Team chemistry is developed away from practices as well. "We have a lot of social gatherings on top of practices," Muhlhofer said. "We have a lot of fun, throwing dances in dining halls, hosting movie nights, and [taking] trips to New York City to shop and see shows." As he emphasized, "When everyone is having fun together, everyone dances better, and that is our ultimate goal."

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