Dancesport

I have got some fluids lecture notes in a bag. People behind me are trying to fall asleep while people in front of me are slowly getting drunk dancing in the aisle and singing pop songs. I was wondering what I should write about and I figured that not everyone is as passionate about engineering as I am so I should perhaps keep some juicy things about System Control for myself (Go Nyquist, go!). In case you have not guessed yet, I am on my way back from SUDA (Southern Universities Dance Association) dance competition.

Cambridge University Dancesport Team (CUDT) at the end of SUDA

I have decided to devote my free time to dancing this year. Since I stopped playing ice hockey at the age of 10 - because I was really rubbish at it - I have been dancing. When I came to Cambridge two and a half year ago, I started doing ballroom and latin. If I get married, and my wife also likes dancing, then ballroom and latin are the best because it is dancing as one - dancing together rather next to each other. Now, In my third year, I decided that I had enough of CUER and started dancing properly.

At this point, I should probably explain what dancesport is. Dancesport is a competitive dancing in ballroom (Waltz, Quick-step, Vienesse Waltz, Foxtrod, Tango) and latin dances (Chacha, Jive, Rumba, Samba, Pasodoble). There are several categories for dancers to compete in. The higher the category the greater the variety of moves one can dance in the routine and generally the tougher the competition. There are four main tiers: Beginner, Novice (me), Intermediate and Advanced.  Cambridge is a very good place to do dancesport - at least among other UK universities. It is often Cambridge couples who fill the final rounds and that win great trophies.

Dancing Czechs. Left: Aranka Hrušková (1st year Mathematitcs,  Cambridge,) me, Tereza Růžičková (1st year PPS, Oxford, also supported by The Kellner Family Foundation, her blog is here: http://www.kellnerfoundation.cz/univerzity/index.php?page=136&bloger=112)

So, how much do I dance? I went to a partnering session at the beginning of this academic year. The idea is that people dance with many partners so that coaches can decide which partnerships would work best. My dance partner is a first year pure Mathematics PhD student immersed in topology. We dance about eight hours a week. There is a ballroom and latin class, two hours in total each week. There is a team practice on Sundays that lasts two hours. We take one private lesson a week. The remaining three hours is our own practice. As I said, CUDT is really good for dancesport as they provide us with different venues for dance practices so one can just turn up and start drilling his Waltz routine.

How much does it cost? Classes are three or four pounds. Private lessons for a couple are £20 or £34 for one hour, depends on a teacher. Practicing in your own time is free. Competitions are usually about £30 including transport. I bought a new pair of latin shoes at the beginning of this year which was £60. Dancesport is not cheap.

As a novice couple, we compete in Waltz, Quick-Step, Jive and Cha. One aspect of dancesport culture is to put on fake tan and gel your hair for competitions. It is way more complicated for ladies of course. I woke up at 4.50 am this morning so that I could put on fake tan and gel my hair. When I got out of the bed, and flicked on the switch, nothing happened. When I tried turning on my two desk lamps unsuccessfully I looked out and noticed that there was a local blackout. "How am I going to get my head ready if I cannot see myself in a mirror?" Then I remembered that my grandmother gave me a torch before I went to the UK saying that I should use it during a power cut.  I must say that the torch came really handy!

 Nina and me doing waltz

Today's competition ended well for me despite my hip injury from Christmas, which prevented me from doing Latin properly until about two weeks ago. We did not win any medals but we got to semi-final both in Latin and Ballroom which was the best result so far. The National Championship is at Blackpool on 28th February.

Fingers crossed!