If you’re looking for a way to meet new people, exercise and tear up the local salsa scene, you can now take social ballroom lessons over the summer at Penn.
Penn’s Latin and Ballroom Dance team has begun offering classes where students and faculty can learn anything from the Viennese Waltz to Latin dances like the Salsa and the Bachata during four-week-sessions.
The group’s first social classes — featuring the Waltz and the Foxtrot — were held Tuesday, June 1 in Houston Hall. Other classes are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 6 and 7 p.m.
According to PLBD member and School of Medicine Ph.D. student Senthil Kannan, the social lessons’ function is to spread dance to the larger community while the PLBD team competes nationally and internationally on behalf of the University.
In the past, PLBD has participated in several contests, including the Manhattan Championship and the Ohio Star Ball. Penn has categorized the PLBD’s activity an official dance sport, Kannan said.
She added that competitions improve the technique of the dancers by exposing them to more advanced ballroom dancers.
The amazing aspect of the competition team is that anyone can join, Kannan explained.
“There is no selection process for the team,” Kannan said. The PLBD philosophy, he continued, is “anyone can dance.”
For students with a full course load, being part of the dance team can be quite demanding — it’s more “dedication oriented,” said School of Engineering and Applied Science rising sophomore Elisabeth Sum, PLBD’s Dance Captain.
Sum said she felt inspired to dance after seeing two PLBD performances last year. She went on to become PLBD’s dance captain after a year of dedicated practice.
“The people who encouraged me helped me stay with it,” she said.
For less ambitious dance aspirants who are simply looking for a fun activity to fill their schedules, the social lessons are ideal for getting to know other people, Kannan said.
The classes are taught by 2004 College graduate Christy Kam, who formed PLBD in 2000 and currently teaches ballroom across the tri-state area.
The fee is $20 for 6 lessons for Penn students and $20 for 4 lessons for others. More information about the social dance classes can be found at www.dolphin.upenn.edu/ballroom.
