The Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company

Claremont Dance Festival
Thank you to all who participated and helped plan the first annual Claremont Dance Festival this past month. It was a huge success, drawing students from numerous Southern California colleges, Claremont Community members, and staff, faculty, and administrators of the Claremont Colleges for three days of classes and social dance parties.

Website Changes
Numerous exciting changes are coming to this website in the month of January. Check back next year for new features, information and much more.

Spring Company Auditions
Auditions for new members will be held in late January 2008. Please check back here for more information, or contact Director Paul Roach at director@claremontballroom.org for more information.

Dates Announced for Concert 2008!
In addition to numerous community performances, the spring semester will include the annual CCBDC Concert. This full length concert features a cast of 80, full costumes and over a dozen different dance styles. Concert will run May 2-4 at Big Bridges theater at Pomona College. Check back here in the spring for more information including ticket sales.

New Alumni Facebook Group
Are you a former of the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company? A new Facebook group is quickly growing and building connections between the hundreds of alumni. Visit the Facebook Alumni group for more information.

Spring Semester Begins Late January. Students and weekly events will resume in late January 2008. See you on the dance floor!

The Claremont Dance Festival, the biggest ballroom dance event of the semester, is starting this weekend. The event begins with an afternoon of dance classes on Friday, November 30th, and continues until the awards brunch on Sunday morning. Both the campus and tour teams have been preparing for this busy, dance-packed weekend all semester long, and, as the festival draws near, the excitement for this long awaited event only grows.

This is the first time that the CCBDC has endeavored to put on a large event in the Fall, and the idea has been greeted with much enthusiasm. All members of the team -- from the dancers who began ballroom just three short months ago, to the four-year ballroom veterans -- have been involved in the production of this a large and ambitious event. Students who are studying abroad and won’t be able to participate in the Spring concert are particularly excited to have a chance to take part in a large ballroom event this year.

All day Friday and Saturday, the Claremont Dance Festival will be offering a variety of ballroom and social dance lessons. The lessons range from beginning to advanced, in order to cater not only to students taking ballroom classes, but to those who have never danced ballroom as well. Styles being taught vary from International Standard and Latin to Salsa, Lindy Hop, West Coast Swing, and even Argentine Tango. A schedule of classes is available at http://claremontballroom.org/festival.

The highlight of the weekend will most certainly be the evening events, which will allow dancers with all levels of experience to get onto the dance floor and show everyone just how much they’ve learned. On Friday, Dancing with the Claremont Stars kicks off the night’s formal Black and White Ball. After the competition ends, Paul Roach will be teaching a waltz lesson, which will be followed by hours of open dancing. As if that weren’t enough, the events continue Saturday night with an Intercollegiate Dance Party. The night will be filled with many fun informal competitions, with highlights such as the CCBDC’s first ever same-sex rumba contest!

In addition to preparing the festival’s events, campus and tour teams have been practicing all semester long to learn and perfect routines that will be performed – many for the first time! – this weekend. The formation routines will be showcased both nights, and are comprised of a very diverse lineup of dances, demonstrating how broadly talented our Claremont dancers really are. There will be a lively rock jive, a sultry tango, a bubbly samba, a captivating paso doble, and an innovative and entertaining foxtrot-cha-cha battle, as well as several solo performances. The Harry Potter Standard medley, which won the CCBDC a 6th national championship title only two weeks ago, will be working its magic once again. The companies 80’s medley, which will compete regionally next semester, will also be premiered.

The Claremont Dance Festival is a unique Intercollegiate and community program. The company hopes to put its motto, "it’s not just about dance," into practice by building camaraderie around the infectious and carefree spirit of dance. The CCBDC hopes to foster a tight-knit Intercollegiate ballroom community, and has invited colleges from all around the region to the festival. There will be members from Caltech, UCSB, and UCSD attending. Visiting instructors include Can Aksoy, multiple National Collegiate Champion, who will be teaching Argentine tango, and Champion West Coast Swing dancer Matt Sugihara (with our own Lauren Wann) will be teaching his smooth moves, as well.

As registration continues to roll in, the ballroom buzzes with the collective excitement of the 80-student dance company. The admission price is low: admission for all events of the weekend is just $15 dollars for students, and $3 per separate event. Registration is taken online or at the door. Sales are hot, but, as this weekend will show, CCBDC is just heating up.

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!

This weekend, the Claremont Colleges attended the National Collegiate Dancesport Championships in Columbus, Ohio and performed a Harry Potter themed Standard Medley to thunderous applause and a standing ovation. The results of their 1600+ hours of intense rehearsal and dedication and garnered praise from competitors and spectators alike, and the members of the CCBDC's nationals routine were exuberant when their 1st place victory was announced.

"This has been the longest week ever," commented Ben Jencks (Harvey Mudd '09), "but it was definitely worth it." And what a long week it was - CCBDC nationals routine members took early Friday morning flights to make it to the competition in Columbus, and spent two long days individually competing and watching the professionals at the Ohio Star Ball before taking the floor Sunday morning to win their sixth national championship.

Among the individual highlights of the weekend was the 2nd Place finish by Rob Donnelly and Kelly Hewitt in the Open Polka event. Kelly commented that she "was really inspired by my experience with the Dancing with the Claremont Stars Program - the wife of my star dances Polka with her family," and that "all the weeks of training really paid off." And coming off the Lab competition last week, Kelly also wanted to say that "no one Polkas like the CCBDC." And with a 2nd place finish in the nation, who can argue with that?

The Claremont Colleges Ballroom Company also had the joy of competing against some of its rivals on the West Coast for the first time. With UCSD's School of Rock Medley taking second place, there were mutually supportive shouts of "West Coast!" heard around the ballroom as both teams accepted their awards.

In addition to the numerous applications for information about the Claremont Colleges and the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company from prospective students and dancers alike, many spectators showed interest in the CCBDC's costuming. A first effort by new director Paul Roach, the costumes were entirely produced by the CCBDC company. Starting from undecorated tailsuits and leotards, Paul and members of his company added decoration and ornaments to produce some of the most elegant costumes seen all weekend. "I am so glad that the costumes turned out so perfectly," Paul said, "they did a great job of accenting the stunning dancing of our dancers."

Alumni from the surrounding area also came out to support the CCBDC's competitive side. Carey McDonald, Pomona '07, commented that the routine was "really great," and even took the time to provide some refreshments from his mother, for which the company is extremely grateful. "It covered nearly half our meals!" exclaimed one appreciative team member.

Asked what they were going to do next, the members of the CCBDC nationals routine responded with laughter and broke out into a latin dance number before posing for pictures. "They're a phenomenal group of people," director Paul Roach commented as he watched his students celebrate their national victory, "and I'm really going to miss sharing so much of my life with them."

Costuming Credit: Paul Roach, Lauren Wann (Scripps '10), Jane Wann, Zane Kealey (Harvey Mudd '08), Rebecca Stillwell, Ellyn Brady (Scripps '10), Mercedes Teixido (Pomona) and all the members of the CCBDC who were extra sets of hands.

Music/Choreography Credit: Paul Roach

The CCBDC would like to thank the entire Claremont Colleges community for all their support, both financially and morally, and looks forward to success in future endeavors.

This Sunday, the CCBDC’s Nationals Team will be competing at the USA Dance National Collegiate DanceSport Championships (NCC) in Columbus, Ohio. The company is sending the team off with well wishes and the hope of a 6th national championship title. The team competes in the formation event, and will be premiering the new 6 couple International Standard Harry Potter medley.

This formation event requires teams to create a 5-6 minute medley of either the Standard dances (slow waltz, foxtrot, Viennese waltz, quickstep and tango) or the Latin dances (cha cha, samba, jive, rumba and paso doble). Within the medley, our 6 couples dance each of the styles in unison and in complex formations, which constantly shift throughout the dance. Technique, creativity, uniformity and great performance skills are key to success in the event.

Many of the 15 Nationals dancers will also be competing in the individual couple competitions. In addition to the formation event, the NCC offers individual events in all major ballroom styles and many social styles, as well as a team match competition which evaluates the individual competition skills of a team. CCBDC competes with great success in all of these events and is best known for our undefeated record in the formation event.
Nationals members went through an intense 3 week audition process at the beginning of the year in order to secure a place on team, and have since practiced at least 10 (and sometimes closer to 20) hours each week. The team hopes that their long hours, early mornings, and extreme dedication will help them entertain the crowd, be scored highly by the judges, and represent the Claremont Colleges with pride. And no one would mind bringing back a 6th national championship title!

The Medley premiered this Wednesday at 10pm in the Edmunds ballroom, and was received with tremendous enthusiasm by the Claremont community. Good luck Nationals!

CCBDC celebrated Halloween in style with its Masquerade Ball on Friday, November 2nd. The ballroom was decorated for the occasion with spooky skeletons and several pumpkins delicately carved with dancers—adding a touch that made this Halloween party uniquely ballroom.

Our own Paul Roach started off the night in style—dressed to the nines in his tail suit—leading a whole ballroom of costumed dancers in an American Tango lesson. Three hours of social dancing followed, with dances ranging from Lindy to Cha-Cha and Salsa to Foxtrot, with a couple Paso Dobles, Polkas and Viennese Waltzes thrown in for good measure. Lest the lesson at the start of the evening go to waste, quite a few Tangos were interspersed through the course of the evening.

Fresh from their stellar first performances at the opening of the LA Live art exhibit, the Campus Team wowed the huge crowd with their Tango to Gotan Project’s "Una Musica Brutal." CCBDC then welcomed Mood Swing to the ballroom, where they regaled the audience (one of the largest CCBDC has ever seen for a performance in Edmunds) with their dulcet tones, singing a cappella renditions of "Walk on the Wild Side" and the big band classic, "In the Mood." The performance concluded with Tour Team’s Samba to Ozomatli’s "Can’t Stop," a spectacular end that truly brought down the house.

Do you know someone on the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company Nationals Team? Do you miss seeing them? Does it feel like ages since the last time you actually had a fully formed conversation with them? Has it gotten to the point where you feel like you're seeing a long lost friend whenever your paths actually cross?

Have they walked away in the middle of conversations because they're "Late for Quidditch Practice?" Has it gotten to a point where you no longer bother to invite them to things because they've said, "I've got Nationals practice," one too many times?

Have you noticed them falling asleep in the middle of the day (or even the middle of morning classes) far more often than would be considered normal?

Are you concerned for their mental well-being? Are you wondering what could possibly be taking up this much of their time, and how it could possibly be worth it?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you should come to the premiere of CCBDC's 2007 Nationals Routine on Wednesday, November 14th in Edmunds Ballroom. Nationals Team will be taking the floor at 10PM, right after the end of the Lab Competition.

Come out and show your support for CCBDC as the team prepares to leave for Ohio this weekend to defend our national title!

Now in her final semester at Pomona, Super Senior Kimberly Loo has had plenty of time to soak up the goodness of ballroom dance. As a seasoned member of the tour team, Kim was hard pressed to come up a single answer when I asked her what her favorite CCBDC memory was: "I don’t think I can answer that . . . All I know is that there were plenty of good times. Plenty. Of course, I love love LOVE performing. I am this strange combination of uber-shy introvert and crazy attention-seeker, so performing dance is AWESOME. It provides the opportunity to entertain people without having to give speeches or use words."

What started as a last minute class pick developed into central passion for this very busy student. Kim remembers, "My sponsor group got the very last class registration spot freshman year. I was standing in line commiserating with them when I found out that half of them were taking ballroom dance. It sounded really fun! I was going to be taking ballet and hip hop dance, and I figured I might as well sign up for another dance class. You know, try something different." A win-win for all, ballroom turned out to be a perfect activity for Kim. We get the benefit of her stellar performance and personality, and she gets to socialize and take much-needed breaks from her ambitious academic endeavors. After her initial semester of ballroom, Kim became part of campus team in the spring of her first year, followed by a quick jump to tour team sophomore year. From that point on, Kim was a dedicated ballroom dancer, applying her typical ethos of 110% dedication as part of the CCBDC family.

It seems almost impossible that Kim does all that she does inside and outside the ballroom—Kim is a impressive triple major in English, Dance and Anthropology, writing her anthropology thesis about ballroom, and her English thesis about prophecy and cursing in Oedipus Tyrannus. In addition to schoolwork, Kim manages the Safe Escort Service, interns at Soulstice Marketing, and TAs at Sycamore Elementary. Not surprisingly, Kim has plans for her life after Pomona, aiming to spend time in Hong Kong or Japan teaching English and, of course, doing ballroom dance.

Kim takes an equally abundant approach to her work inside the ballroom, training extensively to secure another prize-winning performance in the upcoming Nationals competition, serving as the Historian for CCBDC, and even making time to drop into technique classes to help out. There’s no end to the dancing in sight. As I ask about her dance horizons post-Pomona, Kim replies, "I will always be a social dancer . . . There is always more to learn. I think it would be fun to work in the dance industry in some capacity, perhaps in marketing and public relations." To this, I can only smile and think of all the people who will be lucky enough to encounter Kim as she dances through life. If, upon knowing Kim, you sense something super-human in her extraordinary existence, suffice to know it is indeed something special—Kim has ascended from the level of humanity into the magical realm of dancer extraordinaire.

The schedule for the lab competition, which will be taking place Wednesday, November 14th, has been finalized. More information on lab competitions can be found here.

7:00

• Silver Social (Rock Jive)
• Bronze Standard (Quickstep)
• Bronze Cha Cha (only open to students who have not taken Silver or Gold Latin)
• Open Polka

8:00

• Bronze Social (East Coast Swing)
• Open Cha Cha
• Gold/Silver Standard (foxtrot)
• Silver/Gold Rumba Demonstration

9:00

• Bronze Latin (Samba)
• Open Salsa
• Open Jack & Jill
• Open Lindy-Hop

And finally, last but certainly not least, please stick around to see the premiere demonstration of the 2007 National Collegiate Championship Entry by the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company - a Harry Potter International Standard Medley (10:00 pm).

Nate Miller, a Senior IR Major at Pomona College, is new to Campus Team this semester. Up until now he’s kept himself busy off the dance floor, spending the fall of his Junior year in Freiburg, Germany, an experience he describes as “really, pretty awesome.”

Though he took his first ballroom class in his Sophomore year—Bronze Latin—it was not until the spring of his Junior year that he began to think more about dance, or the possibility of joining the CCBDC. We have Evan Pardo, Nate’s longtime friend, to thank for this. Evan’s constant raving about what a blast it was to be on team kindled Nate’s inspiration to try out this past September.

Now that he’s joined team, Nate too, has been having a blast. He even described it as "awesome!" without any pushing or prodding on my part. He’s been having an especially fun time getting to know all the people on team:

"I had no idea: the people are really cool; kinda crazy, but really cool," he said - a description that immediately hits home for anyone who has spent time with the dance team. Nate has even been drawn in to the team’s new procrastination tool: the forums. "Reading the different posts on the discussion threads - hilarious!"

When asked about the tango routine he’s a part of with Campus Team, Nate describes it as "incredible. The tango is hottt, with multiple Ts!" He adds that everyone in the routine is "really fun to hang out with."

Beyond all this, Nate is enjoying the improvement he has already made, and looking forward to getting even better. He commented that "the atmosphere on team is really great not only for getting better, but for feeling good about what you know. Its really positive." When asked to boil it all down, Nate said he really wants to "learn a lot more dance."

Well put, Nate.