Students cha-cha for charitable causes

Vance Hall rang out with music as 32 individuals followed Rural Studies graduate student Daniel Mizsei and Wharton junior Danielle Florino’s lead in the Cha-cha-cha.

Mizsei and Florino are members of Penn Latin and Ballroom Dance, which teamed up this past Sunday with Student Ambassadors of the World to raise money for the construction of a V-Day safe house in Haiti and for the Penn Japan Relief fund.

Dancing to Latin American tunes, the PBLD members helped to walk the participants through the basic steps and rhythms of social dances such as the rumba.

Most participants came in with little to no formal training. Despite this, “the instructors helped to make the moves fun and easy to learn,” College senior Jane Shim said. “It was absolutely amazing,” added College freshman Alyssa Dickinson. “I definitely see myself continuing with ballroom dancing in the future.”

Students were not the only ones who twirled their partners around. Staff members and the general public alike joined the opportunity to rumba alongside accomplished competitive dancers. “The social lessons are great to have, and more people should join,” Penn Information Technology support specialist Tony Olejnik said.

Sunday’s activities were just one of a series of events conducted by SAW in order to raise awareness for global women’s issues. Previous events included discussions about female genital mutilation and a henna tattoo campaign to raise awareness about female “untouchables” in India, SAW board member and College senior Lauren Peterson said.

Along with the lessons, SAW presented information and statistics regarding the rising amount of sexual violence against women in Haiti and the lack of safety in refuge camps.

“We wanted something that would celebrate cultural diversity while spreading knowledge,” Peterson said. “As an umbrella organization, we want to bring together different groups to reach and meet new people.”

With several more events such as an Africa book drive planned, SAW plans to pursue its mission to further link Penn to the world, SAW Co-President and College senior Meredith Thurston said.

“It’s so exciting to see the turnout to these events,” Thurston said. “It’s amazing to see how excited Penn students are to get involved in the world.”

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