The Ballroom Dance Club will hold a Spring Formal Dance on April 22, 2001.
(that's Sunday).
The place might be either the Illini Union Ballroom or the Illini Union's
room 314 (the latter room where teacher 'Miss V.' often holds her
practices), but details aren't final yet so I can't tell you exactly
where until then.
But I will say this, since I started ballroom dance with 'Miss V':
Formal means this in this April dance: Men will wear either a tuxedo or
a shirt with tie with a suit. Suits are required if not wearing a tuxedo.
Women will wear cocktail dresses or ballgowns, but try to avoid wearing
competition gowns. Jeans, gym shoes and tennis shoes, as you probably
know, are taboo for the duration of this dance, as well as T-shirts.
The dance card will have all of the dances usually played at the Regent.
There are some exceptions: Viennese waltz is not usually played because
most people will sit out the dance. There will be two charlestons, also.
Don't expect nightclub 2-step or hustle like they do at the Regent.
The usual format is this: 8 sets of dances, then a mixer (intermission),
then another 7 sets of dances, then another mixer (2nd intermission),
and finally, 5 sets of dances to end the social dance.
Most of the dancers will usually dance American smooth or rhythm (except
for quickstep) in Miss V's. club, and David Lin teaches almost the same
stuff to his students, unlike the Dancing Illini's focus on International
Style.
Music usually will be provided by a live band. Miss V. usually brings in
a local ensemble called The Bev Wolf band.
Like in the Regent social dances, it is the social dancer's right in this
dance to sit out a dance that he/she doesn't know. Miss V. says that to
do a dance that you don't know in this event is a serious breach of dance
decorum.
I will bring my new dance partner, Michele, from France, to this dance.
That is the part that is exciting--I will have a real dance partner to
dance to!
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Apr 05 2001 - 11:06:00 CDT