The Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company

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The Ballroom Dance Team, comprised of about 90 dancers and five staff, puts on the spring dance concert each year in the beginning of May. This year, 35 routines showcased international latin and standard dances, as well as some of the more well known street dances including salsa, lindy hop, and west coast swing.

This year’s concert theme, "Made Modern," started as a way of connecting the experiences of the audience and the dancers – the opening section of the concert featured 1920’s-era ballroom pieces alternating with solo pieces in the modern style.

"I wanted to give both dancers and audience a sense of history and perspective, and also to let each into the shoes of the other as much as possible," said Paul Roach, director of CCBDC. "In the process, I ended up creating a historical perspective that I decided to run with and expand into a theme with skits and references to origins of American social dance."

Jenny Lin, Pomona ’07, thought it worthwhile to see the two styles contrasted, even while connecting more with the current style of ballroom dancing. "It was cutesy," she said of the older style of dancing, which in her opinion required less refined technique and execution.

Another Claremont Colleges student who came to see the concert shared Lin’s preference for the contemporary routines. "I thought it was well done, and showcased how ballroom dancing isn’t just the dead pomp of the dancing world, and is very much alive today," said James Tran, Pomona ’07. "I enjoyed how they incorporated modern dance and some hip hop aspects into the choreography."

Both Lin and Tran are active members of Claremont’s dancing community, and regularly attend social dance events put on by CCBDC.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the older demographic of concert viewers derived more amusement from watching the older style of dancing, as well as from the dancing puns that were liberally scattered throughout the opening skits. According to Paulina Sanchez, Scripps ’10, any method of engaging the audience is desirable. "Whenever they’re here clapping, that’s good," she said. Sanchez danced in a waltz routine in the concert.

One part of concert remained the same. Despite the stress and lengthy rehearsals of the week leading up to the performance, once the time arrived "it was more of a ‘let’s enjoy this’ feeling," Sanchez said.

Perhaps this, even more so than the "Made Modern" theme, was instrumental in captivating the audience. "A show isn’t made by the choreography, but by the enthusiasm of its dancers, and it really showed in the concert," Tran said. "They enjoyed dancing, and it was enjoyable to watch."