Dancing the Night Away at Morehouse

by Tiffany Pfeiffer

Des Moines, Iowa (March 19, 1997)--Gliding nimbly across the ballroom floor, Jan stares deeply into JoeÕs iridescent blue eyes as he dips her delicately across his arm mid-waltz. They share a knowing glance, full of energy and grace, as their bodies continue to move in synchronized romance...

And all on the first-floor of Morehouse residence hall.

As part of Drake's dorm activities program, a new session of ballroom dance lessons will be offered in Morehouse starting Monday, March 31. Taught by a Des Moines area professional, these classes range from beginning to advanced levels and cater to anyone with two willing feet.

After taking the class last year, Juniors Heather Bosse and David Sklenicka have excelled to a competitive level and now assist instructor Jennifer Malcolm with both publicity and teaching.

"I had danced a lot in high school and just decided it would be fun to drag my boyfriend [Sklenicka] along to these lessons. It's a great time and good exercise," Bosse said. "We ended up practicing more and more; now we go about two hours a week. It's something we can do together and we usually end up laughing hysterically."

Bosse said the casual atmosphere would make most anyone feel at home.

"It's a really good time and a great way to meet people at Drake with similar interests," she said. "Jennifer has very affective teaching methods; she's so enthusiastic and wants everyone to love what they're doing. Usually the students are very good about helping each other. It's really a supportive team effort."

With instruction on traditional dance steps like the waltz, tango, samba, cha-cha and fox trot, these lessons help expose students to dances that might prove useful in their future family and career lives.

"I know it's really helped me out at wedding receptions and odd occasions like that," Sklenicka said. "You never know when you'll be dancing at a country-club or a work-related event when your older. If nothing else, you can learn to dance with confidence in public."

First-year student Kelli Johnson said she would love to learn these customary dance-steps because of their traditional beauty.

"They're just romantic. It's a total turn-on for a guy to be educated in those kind of dances and doing something beautiful rather than being like 'Hey, let's grind,'" Johnson said.

The class sizes usually range from six to eight couples and address different aspects of dancing depending on the students' capabilities.

"The beginning classes will learn more about the basic form, like how to hold each other, and the advanced will try to polish style and technique. A lot of girls who are just starting out don't realize how much upper-body strength it takes to hold yourself correctly. Otherwise, the guy will step all over you," Bosse said.

The cost at $20 or $25 for five beginning or advanced lessons is described as "a steal" by dance students.

"The prices of similar dance classes outside of Drake are said to be three or four times that amount. Plus, I think you get better attention here because there aren't as many people in your studio; you get a lot of one-on-one instruction," Sklenicka said.

Overall, these Drake sponsored dance lessons offer a fun and relaxed learning atmosphere for students to dance away their worries.

"Dancing lets you unleash all that bottled-up energy that might be directed in a negative way otherwise," Johnson said. "It gives you an opportunity to release and put the homework and stress of college aside."

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