The seventh annual Ballroom and Latin DanceSport Competition will be held Feb. 8 at 11 a.m. in Chumash Auditorium.
Ria Zelada
Special to Mustang News
The annual Ballroom and Latin DanceSport Competition is twirling its way to Chumash Auditorium on Feb. 8.
This is the seventh Ballroom and Latin DanceSport Competition hosted by Cal Poly’s DanceSport Team, and one of the largest annual dance competitions in San Luis Obispo County.
“It’s a competition we have every year,” Christopher Ellwood, Cal Poly’s DanceSport Team coach, said. “We invite schools from all over the state. It’s an opportunity for the teams to meet in the middle of the state and compete against each other.”
Elwood, who was involved in the very first competition, said the event has gained immense popularity since the beginning.
“I was involved when it started,” Ellwood said. “We decided to put it together, we invited other schools and got the word out. Our first competition was small but we have been growing. We actually had 45-50 percent more entries than last year.”
Dancers from more than 200 teams from all over California, Arizona and Utah entered to participate in all levels of the competition.
DanceSport team president and psychology sophomore Alicia Hammond is excited for the large crowd.
“There’s a ton of people competing this year,” Hammond said. “We’ve broken all our records, so I am very excited to see how the competition is going to be.”
Hammond said the competition has a lot to offer participants and spectators who are unaware of what ballroom dancing really involves.
“A lot of people think of ballroom dancing and they think of ‘Dancing With The Stars,’ but there is really so much more to it,” Hammond said. “This is a good way to see what ballroom dance can really be. If you’re interested in dance at all or if you do some sort of dance, but not this kind, I highly recommend that you come because you get to see a whole new world and it’s wonderful.”
The competition includes opportunities to compete in six different levels of dance skill. Dance styles range from the salsa, hustle, Argentine tango and lindy hop swing.
“There are newcomer levels for anybody, and they go all the way up through open levels, which are much more advanced,” Hammond said. “Anyone can participate. All you need is a partner, basically, and it’s not limited to gender or sexual orientation like some may think. Girls and girls can dance together, or boys and boys. You just need a lead and a follow and a desire to dance.”
The competition begins at 11 a.m. and will end at approximately 10 p.m. Admission is free for Cal Poly students with valid ID. The price for the public is $7 in advance and $10 at the door.