Pick-up basketball players will yield to a more elegant type of footwork Friday at 7 p.m. in Carmichael Gymnasium as more than 220 competitors from across the nation will step onto the courts as part of the 2010 Triangle Open, a ballroom dancing competition hosted annually by N.C. State’s ballroom dancing club, Dancing With Wolves.
‘
The USA Dance sanctioned event will pit dancers of all levels and all styles against’ each other in dances ranging from Argentine Tango and Salsa to Waltz and Polka, and while collegiate teams from across the region will be there, Lianne Gonsalves, a senior in biological sciences, said the competition will feature a much broader field.
‘
‘It’s open to collegiate and non-collegiate dancers and it’s one of the largest in the region,’ Gonsalves said of the Triangle Open, which Dancing With Wolves has hosted for more than a decade. ‘There’s always a large presence from North Carolina schools and a lot of teams from universities in surrounding states as well, but individual couples choose to travel as well.’
‘
Gonsalves said past competitions have included competitors from as far away as California.
‘
‘We attract people of all ages and from all over the country,’ Gonsalves said.
‘
But the competitions are only half of what the club accomplishes, as the group offers social dance lessons each week in the Talley Student Center Ballroom.
‘
‘People hear ballroom dance or ballroom dance team and get this ‘Dancing with the Stars’ image in their head,’ Gonsalves said. ‘Which is true at the higher levels but we encourage all experience levels to get involved.’
‘
The range of skill levels at lessons ranges from competitors like Gonsalves, who began dancing her freshman year, to first-time dancers, and there’s no rules for how involved members must be.
‘
‘You can show up with friends, significant others or by yourself and learn some dance moves,’ she said. ‘We usually have between two and four competitions per semester in Charlotte, here and in Maryland, but some choose to not compete at all. Ballroom has so many different levels, that there’s a level for everybody, no matter what effort they want to put in.’
‘
But for those who dare to dance in the competitions, Gonsalves said there are usually no regrets.
‘
‘Most people who want to go to competitions, even though they’re shaky or nervous, come out having loved it,’ she said.
‘
And they always get encouragement from their teammates, even when the rules of competition pit teammates against one another.
‘
‘We travel as a team, but it’s a funny sport,’ Gonsalves said. ‘Dance is very interesting in that it is one couple pitted against another so you may walk onto the floor and compete against people on your own team. We have key members who compete at all levels, so we’re all cheering for all of them, but we do have a friendly competitive spirit between couples who compete on the same level.’
‘
And while those competing at the highest level will likely get the most looks this weekend, the club is also stoking the competitive flame in its more inexperienced members by annually hosting a competition for beginners each December. The event was held for the second time in 2009, but according to Melanie Gilkey, the president of Dancing With Wolves, planning for these contests is constantly in the works.
‘
‘We get the gym about a year ahead of time and start planning about two months before it starts,’ Gilkey, a junior in computer engineering, said.
‘
The competition will begin Friday at 7 p.m. and continues Saturday at 9 a.m. with the award ceremony slated for 7:26 p.m.
