 "Photo: Elizabeth Moskowitz")
Couples from the Texas Ballroom team waltzed around some of their Ivy League competitors at the Harvard Invitational ballroom dancing competition in Cambridge, Mass., earlier this month.
Lindsay Leblanc, a human relations senior, placed second in gold division waltz and quickstep, fifth in gold division foxtrot and tango, and fourth in gold division Viennese waltz with her partner Josh Brewster, a linguistics graduate student.
"I would say that Harvard is the biggest competition of the year," Leblanc said. "We've been preparing since last June."
Brewster said the competitors never expect Texas teams to be competitive at what they consider to be "their sport."
Texas Ballroom competed against schools such as Harvard and MIT and had several couples place.
Texas Ballroom competition director Samantha Peters said the organization sent nine couples, and eight advanced at least one round.
"It was terrifying, yet absolutely amazing at the same time," she said. "When you get out there you're all dressed up in your costumes and you can't wait to get out on the floor because you just get to let loose."
Peters' partner Chris Green, a biomedical engineering senior, began ballroom dancing this past January and is the newest competitor on the Texas Ballroom team.
"It was my first competition and it was huge. To go up against so many people and try to catch the judges' eye was amazing," Green said.
Pharmacy senior Laura Blackburn, vice president of Texas Ballroom, placed first in bronze division cha-cha and bronze division rumba; second in bronze division waltz, bronze division tango, bronze division foxtrot and bronze division quickstep; and third in bronze division tango with her partner Andy Boothe.
The Harvard Invitational, hosted March 8-9, is the largest competition in which the organization competes. Many couples have been practicing seven to 10 hours per week to prepare. Texas Ballroom offers instructor-led classes six nights per week and also makes private lessons available to competing couples to prepare them for competition, Blackburn said.
The competition included dancers from universities across the country as well as private studios. There were several different skill levels represented at the competition, Blackburn said, as well as a professional showcase that the group was able to watch.
"It was a great experience," she said. "You get to bond with your team and meet people from other areas. It's nice to see the same people coming back year to year because you get to watch them grow, and they get to watch you grow."
Several Texas Ballroom members said the experience allowed the team to bond.
"It has really impressed me how well everyone gets along. We're like family," Blackburn said.
She said that ballroom has taught her to interact with different personality types and that she has developed leadership skills that have carried over into her life outside the dance floor.
Be the first to comment on this article!