Students groove to Latin beats
No partner was needed to dance this night away Tuesday in the University Ballroom in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.
Students learned two Latin American dances, the bachata and the machete, with the EIU Ballroom Dance Society.
Students wore regular street clothes, and prior dance skills were not required to attend the event.
Molly Hussey, the president of the EIU Ballroom Dance Society, said that they decided to collaborate with Latin American History Month, because Juanita Cross, the Latino recruitment and retention coordinator, asked them to host the event.
“The dancing gave students and faculty a different look into another culture, and it was something new and fun that a lot of people weren’t exposed to,” Hussey said. “We learned the bachata the step goes 1,2,3, it’s a Latin dance, then we progressively learned more steps as we went on.”
The Ballroom Dance Society decided the main purpose was to provide students with a place to enjoy and appreciate ballroom dance, as a part of campus cultural experience.
Peter Ping Liu, the adviser for the ballroom dance society, said he attends every Latin dance event.
“My philosophy, is to empower students,” Liu said. “It’s a time for students and faculty to exercise their dancing and social skills, as well.”
Alex Saldivar, a Spanish major, was one of the many students at the event, but sat down, while on her laptop doing homework. She said she was sitting down, because she couldn’t dance.
“I already know the dance steps, but that doesn’t stop me from helping some one,” Saldivar said. “This event gave people an opportunity to learn something new, I just wish we had more than two instructors for everyone, but people still had fun.”
Sara Heinking danced with everyone.
“I learned the machete, it was so much fun,” Heinking said. “I also met a lot of people two of them had the same name as me, I enjoyed myself.”
The Latin dance event had 30 people show up.
The Ballroom Dance Society has sessions every Tuesday from 7:30 – 8:30 p.m. in the Student Recreation Center; anyone is free to come out.
Dana Jackson can be reached at 581-7942 or dajackson@eiu.edu.
Students groove to Latin beats
Sophomore English major Nikki Reichert and Senior engineering physics major Jeff Kranz practice the Bachata, a Latin American dance, during a Latino Heritage Month event Tuesday in the Martin Luther King Jr. Union’s University Ballroom. The Panther Ballr
