The Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company

Debra Wood, Dean of Students at Scripps College, was extremely excited to be asked to learn the cha cha for Dancing with the Claremont Stars. Her love of dance and the idea of private lessons with students drew her to the event. After performing last year in the waltz event she was interested to move into the fun and lively latin cha cha. She has really enjoyed working with several amazing students in CCBDC and though somewhat concerned is looking forward to the night of the event.

Francis Su, Professor of Mathematics, Harvey Mudd College
"Life is a dance, and dance is an art, and we enjoy art because art is how God plays."

Company Dancers prepare to dance with the StarsThe second annual Dancing With the Claremont Stars competition, one of the highlights of the first Annual Claremont Dance Festival, is right around the corner.

Following the overwhelming success of last year’s Dancing with the Claremont Stars, the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company (CCBDC) has been planning this year’s event since early September. "We knew last year that it would be a fun program, yet had no idea it would grow so quickly and with such community support," says Kelly Hewitt, the coordinator of last year’s event and current President of the CCBDC. "Dancing With the Claremont Stars has proven to be a unique event at the Claremont Colleges as few programs bring together students, staff, faculty and administrators from all the Claremont Colleges to work, learn, and have fun together," added Kelly, going on to say, "Dancing with the Claremont Stars really celebrates the community that is the Claremont Colleges."

The charge of putting together this event has been picked up this year by two of the CCBDC’s newest members, Jessica Hurley and Ilona Zbirun, who are doing a great job dealing with all the twists and turns. "It has been a lot of work to organize and coordinate the schedules of 16 stars and all their coaches," said Jessica. "Not to mention finding available practice spaces for them on the 5Cs," added Ilona.

"I don’t think either of us really had any idea when we signed up for this of just how popular the competition had become in its single year," added Jessica. "With such positive word-of-mouth from last year’s participants, CCBDC was overwhelmed with interest in the event, and ended up having to turn potential Stars away simply because we didn’t have enough coaches for all of the applicants," continued Ilona.

The Stars have chosen to participate in one of two dance styles, the Waltz or the Cha-Cha, and were grouped with coaches who have, over the past several weeks, given them instruction in the style of their choice. The night of the event, each Star will dance with one of their coaches, competing against the other Stars for coveted intercollegiate bragging rights. The Stars elegantly waltzing their way across the ballroom floor will be Claremont McKenna’s Andrea Morseburg and Sharylle Tan; Harvey Mudd’s Rachel Levy, Debra Mashek, and Francis Edward Su; and Scripps’ Janet Doty and Gilbert Rodriguez. The Stars dancing the Cha-Cha—a fun and lively Latin dance—will be Claremont McKenna’s Jennier Ward-Batts; Harvey Mudd’s Bob Schaffer; Pitzer’s Lydia Plasencia; Pomona’s Tabea Bruckelt and Pardis Mahdavi; and Scripps’ Debra Wood, LaKisha Tillman, and Chris Towse.

The Stars and their coaches have been working diligently in anticipation of the competition, so be sure to turn out to support your favorites. You can trust that it will, without a doubt, be quite a show.

Dancing With the Claremont Stars is scheduled for this Friday, November 30th, at 7 PM in Pomona College’s Edmunds Ballroom as part of our Formal Black and White Ball evening event. Be sure to go to the event page to register and to check out the other amazing offerings at this year’s Claremont Dance Festival, two days of dance classes, ranging from beginning to advanced, so everyone can dance like a star!

Tuesday night may have seemed like any other night, with people crowding into Edmunds Ballroom for practice, but the people showing up for this practice were not your ballroom regulars. While many members of the CCBDC were part of the crowd, the rest of the people in the ballroom were the Claremont Stars participating in our showcase this Friday. After weeks of preparation and practice, they swept through the final dress rehearsal without a hitch and are more than excited to take to the ballroom floor on Friday!

So without more ado, I give you the Claremont Stars:

• 101: Grace Davila-Lopez - Spanish Professor, Pomona College
• 102: Fiona Vajk - Psychology Professor at Pitzer College and Staff Psychologist at Monsour Counseling & Psychological Services
• 103: Kim Bruce - Computer Science Professor, Pomona College
• 104: Nicole Weekes - Psychology Professor, Pomona College
• 105: Asuman Aksoy - Mathematics Professor, Claremont McKenna College
• 106: Rita Stachinak & Regan Rahardja - Study Abroad Program Administrative Assistant, Pomona College
• 107: Peter Kung - Philosophy Professor, Pomona College
• 108: Maria Donapetry - Spanish Professor, Pomona College
• 109: Yi Chen & Christian Lopez - Computer Science Professor, Pomona College
• 110: Don Townes - Chef, Frary Dining Hall, Pomona College
• 111: Elizabeth Gayed - Staff Psychologist at Monsour Counseling & Psychological Services, Claremont University Consortium
• 112: Lisa Sobel - Hilel Fellow, Claremont University Consortium
• 113: Debra Wood - Dean of Students, Scripps College
• 114: Sarah Harris - Engineering Professor, Harvey Mudd College
• 115: Bob Schaffer - Engineering Professor, Harvey Mudd College

Come cheer and vote for your favorite professors on Friday! And while you're here, be sure to check out the photos from the dress rehearsal.

Here are the exciting events that will take place on Friday night:

1. MC Welcome (7:00)
2. Opening Grand March Intro
3. MC Introductions
4. Cha Cha Demonstration
   • David Carrington & Anna Kassinger
   • Zane Montgomery & Nikki Morin
   • Stephen Huie & Alicia Yee
   • Reagn Rahardja & Mandy Wood
   • Josh Leavitt & Jessica Stephens
   • Christian Lopez & Kelly Cloward
5. Cha Cha Event
   1. Heat #1
      • 101: Grace Davila-Lopez & David Carrington
      • 102: Fiona Vajak & Zane Montgomery
      • 103: Kim Bruce & Nikki Morin
      • 104: Nicole Y Weekes & Stephen Huie
   2. Heat #2
      • 105: Asuman Aksoy & Can Aksoy
      • 106: Rita Stachinak & Reagn Rahardja
      • 107: Peter Kung & Jessica Stephens
      • 108: Maria Donapetry & Josh Leavitt
   3. Heat #3
      • 109: Yi Chen & Christian Lopez
      • 110: Don Townes & Kelly Hewitt
      • 111: Elizabeth Gayeal & Carey McDonald
6. Waltz Demo
   • Jay Daigle & Lindsey Healey
   • Josh Ruben & Elizabeth Obreza
   • Victor Wang & Alyssa Cope
   • Grady Wieger & A’Quila Ettien
7. Waltz Event - Final Round
   • 112: Lisa Sobel & Jay Daigle
   • 113: Debra Wood & Josh Ruben
   • 114: Sarah Harris & Victor Wang
   • 115: Bob Shaffer & Jessica Frey
8. Open Dance
9. Cha Cha Final (the three couples with the top score will dance together in one final heat)
10. Open Dance
11. Results and Awards
12. Following the Competition event there will be open dancing and events until midnight:
    • Intro Viennese Waltz Lesson with Chris Witt (8:30pm)
    • Formation Dance showcase by CCBDC Teams - Samba and Foxtrot (10:30pm)

We hope to see you there! As usual comment if you have any questions.

So it's a week overdue and you've probably already heard by now, but the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Company won the National Formation Team event last weekend in Ohio for the fifth time. In addition to continuing their undefeated record, the CCBDC also had finalists in the following categories:

• Can Aksoy and Sara Gaynor - 1st Place in the Open Argentine Tango
• Paul Roach and Alyssa Cope - 1st Place in the Open West Coast Swing
• Paul Roach and Jessica Stephens - 5th Place in the Open Salsa

In addition, the CCBDC sent our first couples to the San Jose State University Ballroom Classic with fantastic results.

Before we've even had a chance to recover, however, we're moving on to our next major production: Dancing with the Claremont Stars! Inspired by the hit show Dancing with the Stars, Claremont Colleges Faculty, Staff, and Administrators have paired up with CCBDC dancers to compete in a showcase this Friday at 7pm. The winners will be decided by audience ballot, and there will be open dancing and instruction in the Viennese Waltz (8:30). If you are around at 10:30, you will also have a chance to see both CCBDC teams perform new routines choreographed by Chris Witt - Tour Team will perform a "steamy samba" (as the Dancing with the Stars program likes to describe it) and the Campus Team will present an elegant foxtrot. We hope to see you there!

Check back soon for a list of entrants in this Friday's events.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Dancing with the Claremont Stars is inspired by the hit show Dancing with the Stars, in which celebrities are paired with professional ballroom dancers who compete together throughout the series for the championship title. The show is based on the BBC TV series Strictly Come Dancing, and has had numerous international spin-offs in other countries.

The Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company (CCBDC) hopes to create a fun and inspirational program based on the similar ideas of dance and community. The celebrities in our version are Claremont Colleges professionals (faculty, staff and administration) and will be paired with advanced student dancers from CCBDC. After a series of individual lessons and coaching, the pairs (consisting of one “celebrity” and one student “professional”) will participate in the grand showcase and competition on Friday, December 1, 2006, in the Edmunds Ballroom on the Pomona College campus.