Taking Cal Poly’s motto in a new direction, the campus Open House Committee is hosting a fundraiser, Learn By Dancing.
Learn By Dancing will showcase three different dance styles in a period of three hours, Open House coordinator and animal science freshman Lauren Szabo said.
“If you’re sitting in your dorm room, get up and bring a bill,” Szabo said.
The event initially began as a dance-off, campus and community director and biochemistry junior Lindsay Schulz said. The Open House Committee worked with Cal Poly’s Hip-Hop Congress, Country Line Dance Club and West Coast Swing Club for the dance lessons.
The first lesson will be taught by the Hip-Hop Congress, which teaches informal workshops on break dancing, disc jockeying, “MCing” and graffiti art, industrial engineering senior Eric Walker said. For Learn By Dancing, the Hip-Hop Congress will be teaching the basics of break dancing.
“(Learn By Dancing) is for beginners, but by the end you’ll know how to get down,” Walker said.
The Country Line Dance Club will teach the second lesson. The club was created to teach line dancing to interested students and has workshops every Friday, outside events co-chair and junior child development major Kristina Blackwood said.
“(At Learn By Dancing) we will be teaching the Honky Tonky by Trace Adkins, Men in Black and the Tush Push,” Blackwood said.
The West Coast Swing Club will teach the last lesson. West Coast Swing is a dance that originated from the Lindy Hop. The dance is characterized by its energy and unique bounce.
Tim Brown, a Cal Poly alumnus, will be the DJ.
Aside from dancing, information will be available about each club, as well as on how to become a Week of Welcome leader and a volunteer for Open House.
“We hope students just have fun,” Szabo said.
Learn By Dancing will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday Feb. 5. Presale tickets are available for $5 on Thursday outside Chumash Auditorium. Tickets will also be available at the door. All ticket proceeds go toward Open House and WOW.
