Let’s Dance!
There are a plethora of dance opportunities at Carleton! Hear about Joey's experience with Carleton's social dance community through PE classes.
There are a plethora of dance opportunities at Carleton! Hear about Joey's experience with Carleton's social dance community through PE classes.
There’s no shortage of dance opportunities at Carleton.
I did not know much about dancing before coming to Carleton. I was familiar with swing dancing from high school, but knew nothing about other dances. At Carleton, however, I was quickly flooded with opportunities to dance in a ton of different ways.
There is such a variety of dance opportunities!
The short list of dance extracurriculars includes the Whoa! Hip-Hop Dance Company, Karl-Pop (a dance group that performs covers of songs, many of which are K-pop), Synchrony II, and the assortment of social dancing organizations. For now, I want to focus on my experiences with the social dance groups.
If you’re not familiar with social dance, don’t worry!
At Carleton, social dance refers to the community of students who are passionate about partner dancing in a relaxed, comfortable environment. Those who want to social dance can explore the Rugcutters Swing Club, the West Coast Swing Club, the Social Dance Club (SDC), and the competitive Ballroom Dance Team.
At first, the variety of social dance opportunities intimidated me. There are so many options!
I quickly discovered that it is common to find west coast dancers at social dance club meetings, social dancers at ballroom meetings, and so on. Which group you join isn’t as important as I initially thought — they’re all connected!
It’s pretty easy to join the Carleton social dance community. In fact, many do so through Carleton’s physical education department.
Carleton requires students to earn four trimesters of PE credit, which can be accumulated through participation in club sports, varsity sports, and PE classes! Carleton believes that students learn best when they feel good and are trying new things.
The PE dance classes got me involved with the social dance community.
In addition to a SCUBA diving class, I have taken two social dancing classes. These dance classes are student-led and emphasize comfort with one’s self, partners, and having fun.
The fall of my sophomore year I took PE 167: Social Dance I. This introductory dance course was taught by three students, who are now friends of mine. They introduced me to the waltz, foxtrot, tango, cha cha, rumba, and East Coast swing dances.
The following trimester, I took PE 168: Social Dance II. Like Social Dance I, I took this class with a couple of close friends from my first year at Carleton — going through these fun learning experiences together was unforgettable. These classes, like most PE courses, meet for ~2 hours each week and do not count as one of your 3 academic classes.
All the social dance groups at Carleton have “open practice” meetings throughout the week.
These meetings usually take place in the Cowling Gymnasium and the Weitz Center for Creativity — they’re loads of fun. It’s common to run into (and dance with!) Carls from all corners of campus, ranging from varsity soccer players to Student Chaplain’s Associates.
Even if you’re not enrolled in one of the dancing PE classes, it’s still super easy to learn.
Last year, the Social Dance Club held its weekly lesson from 9:00-9:30pm and its open practice from 9:30-10:30pm in a Weitz dance studio. The lesson topics rotate, ranging from a beginning cha cha lesson to a Viennese Waltz lesson, which McKenna and I learned together!
The open dance period is a time to relax, watch other dancers, and practice the dances you just learned with others. There are frequent theme days, which involve a change in dress and music from the norm. So far, my favorite has been the Disney-themed open dance.
My experiences with the dance community have been incredibly positive.
Learning something new — especially when visible to others — can be challenging. I remain grateful for the unending support of the fun-loving student dance teachers and captains at Carleton.
Joey balances his work for the American Studies major with his interests in Educational Studies, club soccer, ultimate frisbee, and club cross-country skiing at Carleton. He learned to juggle while growing up in Papillion, Nebraska, and has taught Carleton and middle school students how to juggle through his involvement with the Carleton Juggling F.I.S.H. and a CCCE/TORCH after-school program that teaches juggling and magic at the Northfield Middle School. When not writing satire for the Carleton Salt or dancing with the social dance club, you’ll find Joey playing foosball in Sayles, burrowing into the Libe, or watching Avatar: the Last Airbender in a dorm lounge. Meet the other bloggers!