Newcomers are crucial to our team’s success at Nationals! Sign up for OSB this week to help us earn our 15th consecutive National Championship title!
Hi team,
- Get hype for OSB on November 23rd-24th, it’s the last week to sign up! Here’s why everybody should come:
- competing is super fun, if you’re new to the team you’ll be competing against other people who started dancing in September so you don’t have to be an amazing dancer to participate!
- everybody who competes helps by earning points for our team every time you dance!
- you get to watch amazing professional dancers compete in the evenings, both the world standard and Latin champions will be performing!
- you’ll get to see the collegiate team match, which is like Thunderdome but with dancing!
- bond with your teammates with lots of wacky shenanigans while carpooling, staying in the hotel and eating huge amounts of pasta together!
- Ready to sign up for OSB? Here’s what you need to do:
- Register on o2cm by this Saturday, November 9th! Do not pay on O2CM, payment goes directly to the team. When it asks for your studio, make sure to put Michigan Ballroom Dance Team or your points won’t count towards our team score!
- Only one person in a partnership needs to register on o2cm, and if this is your first time using the website, I recommend asking an experienced team member for help, as it can be very confusing to use 🙁
- Unlike other comps, OSB has an 8 event limit: this means you need to pick which 8 dances (ex. Am. Rumba, Intl Waltz, etc.) you’d like to compete in! If you’re new to the team, upper level team members are a good resource if you’re unsure which dances to pick 🙂
- Newcomers, make sure that you sign up for the Pre-Bronze level to compete against other new dancers!
- Fill out Rooms and Rides by Saturday November 9th so we can organize rides to the competition and hotel rooms! Each person in a partnership needs to fill out R&R separately.
- Pay your $80 registration to the team by Saturday November 9th! If you joined in January 2019 or later, the team will pay for half your registration, meaning you only need to pay $40 per person!!! Venmo @UMBDT preferred, cash/check/PayPal/card also accepted. Don’t be a jerk and make Colin hunt you down, there will be a late fee if you don’t pay on time!
- Get ready to dance all day and party all night during the best weekend of the year!
- More about OSB!
- Partners: If you are still looking for a partner for OSB, you can use this spreadsheet to find one or try posting in the team Facebook group, or asking someone at newcomer lessons this week!
- Check out our competition preparation list to see how you can start preparing for the comp!
- Ladies, do you need help with hair and makeup? Check out these tutorials by team alum Katherine Hamilton here! We’ll also be running a workshop in the next few weeks, keep an eye out for emails with more info.
- Questions about OSB? Ask your Ballroom Buddy or your fabulous Away Comp Chair Natalie (natfox)!
Last year’s OSB victors!
- Final Bronze American lesson! The lesson will be on Monday November 11th, 7-9pm at Steve and Susan’s studio and is open to anyone on A-PreC teams. You don’t have to attend with your regular partner! Please sign up here!
- Speed friending social! Come and get to know your teammates better at our speed friending social on Friday in 3356 Mason Hall! It’s like speed dating but with friendship instead, Grace has come up with some very interesting questions for us to ask each other! Newcomers and returning members are all welcome :)
- Bone marrow registry: Quick reminder that the bone marrow registry will be collecting cheek swabs at DTS on November 4th! You can still participate if you didn’t sign up, they just need to swab the inside of your cheek to add you to the registry, and being added to the registry is not an obligation to donate bone marrow!
Congratulations to everyone who competed at Wisconsin last weekend!
Monday 11/4
7-9pm: Silver American lesson (open to A and B teams)
9.30-11.30pm: Bone marrow registry swabbing and open practice at DTS
Tuesday 11/5
9-11pm: Newcomer review lesson! Confused about quickstep? Befuddled by jive? Come and review what Steve and Susan taught on Saturday and hopefully you’ll be less confused! Bring your laptop to the lesson if you need help signing up for OSB :)
10pm-midnight: Open Practice at DTS
Wednesday 11/6
9.30-11.30pm: Open Practice at DTS
Thursday 11/7
9-11pm: Newcomer supervised practice – review all the dances we’ve covered so far and get your questions answered to prep for OSB!
10pm-midnight: Open Practice at DTS
Friday 11/8
6pm-8.30pm: Speed friending social in 3356 Mason Hall!
Saturday 11/9
Register, complete Rooms and Rides and pay for OSB!
4.30-6pm: Newcomer lesson with Steve and Susan!
Sunday 11/10
Club is in the League Ballroom this week, check out their website here for more info.
| 5-6pm: | Advanced International Rumba |
| 6-7pm: | Beginner Quickstep <- Newcomers come to this one to get more help with your quickstep! |
| 7-9pm: | Open Dance |
There’s a lot of people on this team, to help you get to know everyone we’ve made a handy guide to who’s on which team. This week, meet C-team!
Jing and Stuart
Jing is a junior double majoring in Biology Health & Society and Anthropology. She’s also the team’s Public Relations Chair!
Stuart is a senior studying Economics.
Meagan and Sumin
Meagan is a senior studying Computer Science Engineering. She’s also the team’s Tech Chair!
Sumin is a junior majoring in Aerospace Engineering.
Grace and Matthew
Grace is a junior with a major in International Security, Norms, and Cooperation. She’s also the team’s Practice Space Coordinator!
Matthew is a junior studying Business.
Claire and Patrick
Claire is a junior double majoring in Russian and International Studies.
Patrick is a senior studying Mechanical Engineering.
Nick and Maggie
Nick is a senior studying Biomedical Engineering.
Maggie is a senior majoring in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.
Michael and Lianna
Michael is a sophomore double majoring in German and Physics.
Lianna is a senior studying Electrical Engineering.
Daniel and Erika
Erika is a junior studying Movement Science and minoring in Dance.
Daniel is a grad student studying Biomedical Engineering.
Zoe and Michael
Zoe is a sophomore studying nursing.
Michael is a senior majoring in Chemistry.
Happy dancing!
Lizzie