The Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company

The triumphant, grand promenade was only the beginning. The 2nd annual Dancing With the Claremont Stars was truly an event of excitement from the first to the last moment. In our outrageously popular take on Dancing with the Stars, the CCBDC gave Claremont faculty the chance to become Claremont’s Stars and perfect a Cha Cha or a Waltz with coaching from members of the CCBDC. After a month of training, each star competed with their coach in this championship battle to earn the title of Claremont’s Best. At least, that’s the initial idea—any participant in the program will tell you that the event itself is merely icing on the cake.

This year was no exception. After demonstrations by company members, the Claremont Stars took to the floor, competing in rounds of spicy Cha Chas and dreamy Waltzes. With the ballroom packed to capacity with students, family, friends, colleagues and co-workers, it was easy for each Claremont Star to shine. And shine they did! The first round of dancing demonstrated a huge variety in personality and dance moves, leaving a difficult decision for the judges. After a brief pause for tabulating scores, finalists were announced and prepared themselves for another exhilarating round of dancing. An unprecedented volume of cheering and shouts of encouragement kept the finalist at peak performance through the round. The Stars gave it their all, and then the big decision was in the hands of the audience. Each member of the audience voted for the pair they thought should be crowned as the newest Claremont Stars, and after each audience member had their say, the votes were tallied. Everyone held their breath for the final announcements:
In third place—
Prof. Bob Schaffer and Erin Kelly for Cha Cha
and
Ms. Sherylle Tan and Rudy Resch for Waltz
In second place—
Prof. Chris Towse and Kelly Hewitt for Cha Cha
and
Prof. Rachel Levy and Trevor Ashley for Waltz
…and the winners of the title of 2007-2008 Claremont Stars Champions are:
Prof. Jennifer Ward-Batts and Chris Fiorello for Cha Cha
and
Prof. Debra Mashek and Josh Leavitt for Waltz

Congratulations to our newest champions—they will no doubt enjoy the oversized trophy and bragging rights during their well-deserved year long reign. Yet, even as we celebrate our winners, it is clear that the true scores for all our competitors was a dead tie: 10s all around!

The CCBDC looks forward to gathering community members, students and fabulous dancing once again for Dancing with the Claremont Stars 2008-2009.

Excitement was in the air. Nothing but fun and good-will filled Edmunds Ballroom as couples competed in the semi-annual Lab Competition hosted by the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company. The competition—designed specifically for Claremont Colleges ballroom dance students—gave over 100 students an opportunity to show-off the dancing they’ve learned in classes while experiencing the thrill of friendly competition. The evening unfolded with three hours of dancing, including 10 competition events and demonstration performances from the CCBDC.

With a range of dance styles and skill levels nobody lacked a smile or a dance partner. Furthermore, the multiple heats and events happening during each hour meant no one was ever off their feet for long. Some particularly ambitious dancers even competed in back to back events, switching partners (and often shoes!) in the thirty seconds between heats. The first hour brought an exhilarating line-up of a rapid-fire Fast Lindy, a suave Foxtrot, an energetic Cha Cha and a funky, polyester-filled Open Hustle. Not to be outdone, the second hour’s competitors brought another mix of dances to the floor, including a lively Quickstep, swinging Rock Jive, a sultry Rumba, and a passionate Paso Doble. In the final hour, dancers competed with random partners in the unpredictable, yet exciting Jack and Jill and finished the evening with the ever-popular Salsa.

And what fun would competitions be without big-name judges? Dancers were graced by the presence of Neil Gerard and Rita Stachniak, who fearlessly took on the role of guest judges. Competitors pulled out all the stops to win the attention of the deans-turned-judges and earn personality points. Dancers also brought their best technique, as the Director and top members of the company also judged each pair on its winning combination of great technique and star-quality performance.

Though the competition was at times fierce, the encouragements shouted by spectators and friends were by far fiercer. Crowd favorites drew the attention of the judges and admiration of fellow dancers. There was unanimous celebration during awards ceremonies, when partners saw the fruits of their labors with first place wins, friends congratulated each other in their fine efforts of the evening, and all agreed on job-well done. With a successful in-house competition behind them, students now devote the remainder of the semester in perfecting technique and performance for Medal Exams in May.

Thank you for your interest in sponsoring the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company. As a student-run organization, the CCBDC seeks partnerships with groups and businesses to support our many team events, performances, and other offerings while providing for sponsors with promotion and strong business relationship.

There are several circles of sponsorship to choose from, each involving different levels of commitment and promotion from your business. Each sponsorship level is meant to offer a type of sponsorship to best suit your goals in a partnership with the CCBDC. If you have questions about any of the documents, please contact our sponsorship coordinator at sponsorship@claremontballroom.org

Our Sponsorship Circle ranges in financial support from $100-$500 and involves advertising in our concert programs and festivals as well as personalized requests.
Sponsorship Circle Information

Named after our former director, the Chris Witt Patron Circle Sponsorship ranges in financial support from $1,000-$5000 involving advertisements, promotion, complimentary admissions and booths at our Claremont Dance Festival.
Chris Witt Patron Circle Information

Our highest level of sponsorship, named after our most devoted supporter, Dean Quinley of Pomona College, the Ann Quinley Founders Circle Sponsorship ranges in financial support from $10,000 and above. Founders Circle members are award all advertising opportunities, complimentary admissions and booths at events, and a variety of other personalized requests according to the partnership the member desires.
Ann Quinley Founders Circle Information

Please note that orders and payment for Advertisements and Commemorations are due by April 7 to guarantee inclusion on the Concert 2008 Program.

Advertising:
Please submit the following order form to purchase an advertisement in our Concert 2008 Program. The CCBDC promises the highest quality for your advertisement and reaches over 2,500 audience members with this program.
If you are interested in sponsoring the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company, please contact our sponsorship coordinator at sponsorship@claremontballroom.org.

Advertising order form

Commemoration:
We encourage family and friends to congratulate their dancers with a line of text or page in our program. The entire team works hard to make our Annual Concerts an amazing experience for all involved, and the support from family and friends both on and off the stage always adds light to our dancing.

Commemoration order form

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.

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.

Hello, and thank you for your interest in the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company (CCBDC). If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Maintaining one of the most successful collegiate competitive formation programs in the country (undefeated six-time national collegiate champions), the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company is based in Claremont, California, just a brief trip northeast of Los Angeles.

Currently composed of 80 students from the Claremont Colleges and supported by a dancesport program of approximately 300 dancers every semester, the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company is one of the most organized and successful performative and competitive dancesport ensembles on the collegiate dancesport circuit. With a executive board composed of students, alumni, and choreographers from all over the country, the CCBDC organizes events and demonstrations that rival any professional performance, drawing large crowds from around the world to their unique events.

The CCBDC is also a highly successful competitive group, with an undefeated record over six formation events at collegiate nationals in Ohio and three-time champions in the formation event at the San Francisco International Open. During the 2006-2007 competitive year, the company also boasted the national collegiate West Coast Swing Champions, the national collegiate Argentine Tango champions, and finalists in the national collegiate Salsa event.

In addition to its competitive prowess, the CCBDC also focuses on giving back to the community, and has worked hard to make Dancesport accessible to college students all across Southern California. With a sponsorship program in place to assist new collegiate programs, and dancesport festivals, lessons, performances that are kept within the price range of a student budget, the CCBDC works hard to make sure everyone can experience the joy of dancesport.

With its dedication to service, community, the art of dancesport and social accessibility, we hope that you will agree that the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company is not just about dance – to learn more about this amazing program, please contact us.

This week we introduce a new feature to the Claremont Ballroom Webspace - the Dancer of the Week feature. Each week we'll feature a different dancer, and hopefully get around most of the company by year end. This week we're meeting Kelly Hewitt, a senior at Scripps College and the 2007-2008 Senior President.

“So, Kelly, when did you start dancing with Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company (CCBDC)?” I ask her as we step out of the ballroom after our rigorous two-hour rehearsal on Friday morning. She looks impressively pulled together and energetic, but, then again, she’s a pro—“I started classes first semester of my freshman year, and then joined Campus team the next semester,” she replies modestly.

Since then, Kelly has moved her way up in the company contributing exstensive amounts of time, effort, quality dancing, and stellar ideas. She joined Tour team in her sophomore year, and her junior year became not only Secretary and Dancing with the Claremont Stars Coordinator, but also performed in the legendary Bond medley, helping CCBDC cement its 5th National Collegiate Formation Championship.

All of her accomplishments and dedication are added to the fact that now, in her senior year, Kelly has taken on the role of Senior President of CCBDC. But while her dancing accomplishments have been vital to her success, perhaps even more crucial to Presidential role is her personable attitude and cheery sense of humor – she’s never without a smile or a friendly word.
Which is why it is easy to say that the company missed Kelly dearly this past semester while she studied abroad in Seville, Spain. A dancer at heart, she added some Flamenco to her repertoire of Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop, and Ballet during her time there. With all of her experience, it’s no wonder that, along with her dual major of Politics and Public Policy at Scripps, she is also a Dance minor.

To say that Kelly Hewitt is very involved at the Claremont Colleges would be an understatement—she is not only the President of CCBDC, but also the Head Manager of the Scripps Store, a student member of the Board of Trustees, the student coordinator for Campus Communities United for Justice, and staff for the Scripps College Summer Academy.

Somehow, with all of her responsibilities, she still finds time to be wholeheartedly enthusiastic about ballroom dance. “I’m most excited for the Claremont Dance Festival,” coming up in late November, “because it will be a great opportunity to meet other teams—and it will be just like a four-day dance party!”

And despite her already overwhelming commitment to the CCBDC, Kelly’s eagerness to dance for an entire four days is one of the reasons the CCBDC is so glad to have her back as President. And as she dashes off to conduct another meeting, the certain purpose in her step makes it seem obvious that she’s the right dancer for the job.

The Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company is located in Claremont, California. If you would have questions about the program, please contact our director:

Paul Roach
170 East Sixth Street
Smith Campus Center Suite #118, Box 1676
Claremont CA, 91711

Paul can also be reached by email at director@claremontballroom.org, or by phone at 909.581.4309.

The following members comprise the 2007-2008 Executive Leadership Board for the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company:

• Paul Roach, Director
• Erin Kelly, Assistant Director (Publicity)
• Sara Gaynor, Guest Choreographer
• Kelly Hewitt, Senior President
• Carrie Dedon, Campus Team President
• Jay Daigle, Vice President
• Rob Donnelly, Vice President
• Kristie Finch, Secretary/Treasurer

The following members comprise the 2007-2008 Leadership Board for the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company:

• Ben Jencks, Webmaster
• Ellyn Brady, Campus Team Coach and Costume Coordinator
• Josh Ruben, Head of Interprogram Projects
• Rudy Resch, Technique Lesson Coordinator
• David Carrington, Competition Coordinator
• Asumi Ohgushi, Publicity Coordinator
• Valerie Whitacre, Publicity Coordinator
• Lauren Wann, Service Coordinator
• Rochelle LeGrandsawyer, Editor
• Chris Fiorello, Photographer