The ballroom dance club, one of several new clubs, introduces different dance styles to students.
Club sponsor Haley Hutcheson and Eddie Rivera, a professional dancer and dance teacher at his studio, Dance It Studios teach at the meetings. Hutcheson, an amateur dancer, takes classes at Rivera’s studio.
“We (Rivera and I) dance together and compete. He wanted to come and teach students ballroom dancing,” Hutcheson said.
The meetings start with members warming up then reviewing what was learned in past meetings and introducing new concepts.
The members learn five basic ballroom dances and know how perform them on the dance floor and in competitions. So far, the students have already learned the basics of tango.
“My number one rule is to have fun. The point of the club is to help students develop certain manners and behaviors, like confidence and poster, and help participants learn more about dancing,” Rivera said.
Students are encouraged to practice what they learned at home before coming to the meeting. If Rivera thinks the students are ready, he will start teaching them another type of ballroom dance.
Pedro Mathias, a member that has 7 years of hip hop and street competitive dance experience, wanted to get back into the groove.
“I haven’t dance for a long time and I wanted to get back into it. I also wanted more experience with different types of dance,” junior Pedro Mathias said.
The Ballroom Dance Club is working toward competing in the youth portion of Ballroom Blitz, a competition in November. The club hopes to perform multiple choreographed pieces around Orlando by the end of the year.
Meetings occur every Tuesday from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the freshman, sophomore cafeteria.