The Aftermath

Dance Fest Excitement Continues!

By Jessamine Kuehn

Dance Fest was amazing! I am seriously unable to express how fun it was! Everyone there was so friendly; the couples in line to dance high five those walking off the dance floor, and if you sit in the practice area it is likely that someone will ask you if you’d like to practice dancing, and they’ll teach you some fancy moves. At the seminars you’re asked to find a partner, and you can easily dance with anyone, feeling as though you fit right in with the ballroom dance community.

One highlight of the weekend was the tango seminar. We girls stood on one side of the practice dance floor with the boys on the other, and when the instructor shouted, “find a partner!” we crossed no man’s land and each danced with the first guy who held his hand out to us. After practicing a few steps the instructor would shout, “switch partners!” and we’d do it over again. It was fast paced like that for forty minutes, with leader and follower huddles in between to get the steps right. Everyone was comfortable dancing, and I was surprised at how easy it was to dance the steps I knew with partners I had never danced with before.

Our high school group also enjoyed just practicing in the practice area (though it was difficult for us to avoid collisions with other dancers). We practiced the six dances we were competing in, as well as some Jitterbug Swing moves just for fun. Having time to just dance for hours on end was immensely enjoyable.

I’ve come to be thrilled about ballroom dancing, especially after Dance Fest, and I definitely plan to dance at Blast this fall. I am so grateful to everyone who helped me set up and run the club, and I look forward to dancing more next year!