Your team board are always happy to answer your questions! Find info on each board member here, and you can contact the whole board by email at ballroom-exec@umich.edu or using this form on the website
Hello to the official Michigan Ballroom Dance Team for Winter 2020!!!
Our roster for the semester is now complete and I want to extend the warmest of welcomes to the newest members of the MBDT 🙂 I am so excited that you are joining our community and hope everyone had a fantastic Guys’ and Girls’ Night, whether it was your first time or last of many. I know I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you all better, dancing with my fellow ladies and beating the guys in the dance off (in my totally unbiased opinion at least), and celebrating the start of a great semester together!
Here’s our announcements and schedule for this week:
Some things if you’re new to the team:
- What is Week at a Glance??? I’m glad you asked! Week at a Glance (WAG for short) is our weekly newsletter containing information about all our upcoming events for the week, including lessons, practice space, socials and much more! Week at a Glance is your best source for all things MBDT, so please take the time to read through it thoroughly to ensure you don’t miss out on our events. Our lesson and practice schedule sometimes deviates from normal to accommodate special events, so please check the schedule below before turning up at the CCRB!
- Lessons this week: We’re now on our regular weekly lesson schedule in the CCRB. These are our normal times for beginner lessons:
- Saturday 5-6.30pm (Steve and Susan teaching)
- Tuesday 9-11pm (review of Saturday’s lesson taught by A-team)
- Thursday 9-11pm (supervised practice, upper level team members will be available to help you and answer your questions). Please note there is no supervised practice this week, these will start next week.
Please check Week at a Glance before you come to newcomer lesson as some weeks there are alterations to the regular schedule (like this week!)
- Join our Facebook group! It’s the hub of our community where we post event reminders and announcements during the week (also the many, many lost and found items people leave after lessons!). Check it out here, and just hit request access.
- Calendar: The team has its own Google calendar, available here, which you can use for reminders for all our events during the week and to see what competitions are coming up!
- Check out our newcomer guide! The password is in the email you just got with the link to this page. Click here to access.
Something for everyone:
- Apparel! Rep the MBDT! Team apparel is now available to order on our website until February 16th. Check out this semester’s offerings here and contact your Practice Space Coordinator, Grace Kraimer (gkraimer) with any questions!
- MSU rounds: We’ll be having practice competition rounds for anyone competing at MSU this weekend. You don’t need to be attending MSU to come, rounds are good practice for everyone :)
- Winter semester showcase videos posted! You can watch them here.
- ValpoComp registration due this week! The deadline to sign up for Valpo is Saturday February 8th. You can find more details about this competition in an email from your lovely Away Comp Chair Natalie, but here’s a quick rundown of the important info:
FEB 15TH: VALPOCOMPRegistration, Rooms and Rides and payment ($50 entry fee per person) are all due on Saturday February 8th. Don’t be a jerk and make Colin hunt you down for payment – there will be a late fee on any payments made after the deadline. Pay the team, do not pay on the competition website!!!
Monday 2/3
7-9pm: Bronze American lesson open to A-PreC teams
9.30-11.30pm: Open practice at DTS
Tuesday 2/4
9-11pm: Newcomer review lesson in CCRB 3275! This is the place to be if you missed our Saturday lesson or just want to review what was covered again. Experienced team members will go over the material from the lesson on Saturday and answer all your questions 🙂
10pm-midnight: Open practice at DTS
Wednesday 2/5
9.30-11.30pm: Open practice at DTS
Thursday 2/6
No Newcomer/Pre-C guided practice this week
9-11pm: MSU Rounds in CCRB 3275! You don’t need to be attending MSU to come :)
10pm-midnight: Open practice at DTS
Friday 2/7
Don’t forget to register for ValpoComp, the deadline is tomorrow!
Saturday 2/8
MSU competition, good luck to everyone competing!
Last day to register for ValpoComp!
5-6:30pm: Newcomer lesson in CCRB 3275! We’ll be continuing with the rumba, foxtrot and mambo we learnt last week.
Sunday 2/9
Your ballroom team membership comes with a complimentary membership to the ballroom club! The Ballroom Dance Club meets once a week on Sundays and provides a relaxed, social environment to learn ballroom alongside the wider Ann Arbor community. You do not need to be a student to attend.
Club is in the League Ballroom this week, you can find more details on their website here.
| 5-6pm: | Advanced American Viennese Waltz |
| 6-7pm: | Beginner Jive <- newcomers come to this one to learn a new dance! |
| 7-9pm: | Open Dance |
Looking further ahead, here’s some important dates for the rest of the semester…
March 7-8th: Arnold Competition! Our biggest competition of the winter semester is less than a month away! The Arnold Youth Dancesport Classic is on the last Saturday and Sunday of spring break, and you don’t want to miss it! The points we earn from Arnold contribute towards our score at next year’s nationals, thus making it essential for defending our title for the sixteenth consecutive year. Be sure to save the date and plan to get back early if you’re travelling so you can dance for the Terminator himself, who makes an appearance every year in the ballroom!!!
March 27th: Dance Mix! It’s your favorite spectacular end of year dance show, and your very own A-team will be performing a Latin formation again this year! Last year’s show was sold out with thousands of people filling the Power Center, so don’t miss out on an evening of performances from the university’s best dance groups.
April 4th: MichComp! Your amazing Home Comp Chair Corey has been hard at work preparing our team’s very own competition. Our home competition at Pioneer High School is the perfect opportunity for your friends and family to watch you dance!
More details about all these events will follow in the coming weeks :)
Happy dancing,
Lizzie
Michigan Ballroom President/QE3
PC: Lizzy Xiong <3