Over the past two years, Tufts' ballroom team has seen tremendous growth, both in size and level of competition. At its last meet, held April 13-14 at MIT, the improvements resulted in a first place finish in the team competition.
For a team that's been improving as it seeks recognition, the newfound success is more than welcome.
"We're a sport just like any other team. We train together, work together and enjoy the opportunity to represent Tufts at every event. Now that hard work is paying off, and it's very exciting for us," sophomore captain Kathryn Wepfer said.
The team consists of 30 members, spread across the five levels dictated by the sport - newcomer, bronze, silver, gold, and open. Once a couple has received a certain number of proficiency points, it moves up to the next status until it reaches the ultimate goal of competing in the open level.
Proficiency points are gained by placing in the top three at a ballroom competition, with first place gaining three points, second place capturing two points and third place one point. Once the couple has racked up seven points, it is required to advance to the next level. However, many couples move up once they gain any proficiency points since placing in an event signifies a mastery of that level.
Within each level, a couple has the opportunity to compete in 19 different areas of ballroom dance. The two main categories offered are American and International. These two are split again into fast and slow categories. Fast American is labeled Rhythm and slow American is Smooth, while fast International is known as Latin and slow International as Standard. Smooth and Standard are the styles of dance that evoke the most common images of ballroom dance, with women wearing large flowing ballroom dresses.
"The American style is more for social value, it includes dances that you can take elsewhere in everyday settings. International is more for serious dancers; if you want to compete you learn International," junior Stephanie Chin said.
Within the four categories are 19 individual dances that the competitors master. Rhythm has cha-cha, rumba, swing, bolero, and mamba, while Latin has cha-cha, rumba, samba, pasodoble, and jive. Smooth consists of waltz, tango, foxtrot, and vienesse, while Standard has the same four as smooth including quickstep.
The more traditional nature of the American style dances is the reason it is taught first to Jumbos new to the sport. Other teams follow a different procedure, one which Tufts will adopt next year by teaching International dances first.
"In the past we started teaching members American style, but next year we're revamping and starting with International. It'll give us an even greater competitive edge," Wepfer said.
Once the members have mastered the dances, it is then time to put their handiwork to the test in an actual competition. The first round of the competition involves having each couple on the dance floor, as well as the five to seven judges overseeing the dance. Everyone dances for one and a half minutes, after which the duos leave the floor and the judges decide which couples may come back.
This continues until six to seven couples remain on the dance floor, at which point the final round commences. After whirling for the final one and a half minutes, the judges rank each tandem based on how well they performed. The ranks for each pair are then added up, and the couple with the lowest sum is declared the winner.
Besides individual competitions at each of the five levels, there is also a team competition. In the team competition, four couples duke it out in the open dances. One duo is entered in the cha-cha, swing, waltz, and foxtrot, with the four couples comprising the team representation.
At the MIT meet two weekends ago, the Jumbos came through with an unprecedented first place team finish, surprising everyone but themselves. The victory was especially notable because the squad edged out schools as talented as MIT and Harvard.
"MIT is the last collegiate competition of the year, and one of the biggest with more than 600 competitors from all over the country. Two years ago, Tufts didn't have the talent or numbers to legitimately compete in the team match," Chin said. "This year is the first time that we've been able to send couples to dance competitively for the team.
Juniors Brian Frasier and Chin competed in the cha-cha, Wepfer and her partner in swing, sophomore Gerrett Hansen and senior Becca Feinberg in the waltz, and junior Scott Kronewitter and sophomore Asami Tanimoto in the foxtrot.
Though the team will not be participating in any more competitions this year, it is looking eagerly at the future. Next year the team will be led by tri-captains and current freshmen Vivian Hwang and Conor Doherty, and current sophomore Megan Sullivan.
Wepfer will take a leave of absence as she is studying abroad in England - and though she is saddened to leave the team at such a peak, she'll still be dancing.
"If you want to be a professional dancer you go to London, so it'll be exciting to participate in the city of ballroom dancing and absorb everything. It's not that I want to go professional, but just the chance to be so close to the hub of something I have such a passion for is exhilarating," Wepfer said.
