Carolina Ballroom waltzed its way to several victories at the Gamecock Invitational Ballroom Dance Competition in the Russell House Ballroom Sunday.
Carolina Ballroom represented the University of South Carolina, while NC State, Georgia Tech and UNC Charlotte traveled to compete. The organization is made up of about 45 dedicated dancers who practice twice a week.
“It’s one of the oldest sports clubs on campus. This is the 11th year of this competition,” Jessica Russell, fourth-year chemistry student and vice president of Carolina Ballroom said. Russell is a dedicated member and danced even before coming to USC.
“I’ve always done some kind of dancing, and I saw the club and joined my freshman year,” Russell said.
Luke Havens, fourth-year biology student and president of Carolina Ballroom, shares the same love for dance as Russell, his dance partner.
“I started ballroom dancing my junior year of high school, and I just continued when I got to USC,” Havens said.
Dance partners Havens and Russell were awarded first place in the international bronze level for waltz, tango, foxtrot and quickstep. Another couple from Carolina, third-year public health student Carter Little and third-year political science and English student Andrew Lopiano, won second place for the same event.
Carolina Ballroom members each have their own reason for joining the dance family and come in with different levels of experience, from rookie to advanced. Fourth-year international business student Michelle Bizzell came in with some experience.
“I danced some in high school, tap dancing. I just saw them at the club fair freshman year and thought, 'that’s cool,' and I have not left since then,” she said.
Bizzell’s friend, third-year music education student Hannah Fakoury, came to the competition to show her support. Although Fakoury did not compete, she intends to join the club next year.
“I danced for nine years of my life, but not this kind of dance," Fakoury said. "I think it’s so classy and so romantic. I just want to be apart of it.”
With so many students participating, there were plenty of options of dance for everyone.
“I compete in all of the bronze level events. My favorite was the standard waltz quick step,” fourth-year biomedical engineering student Danny Tomkoski said when asked about his favorite event.
With competition comes pressure and excitement. For Tomkoski, competing is not the highlight of the ballroom experience.
“I hate competing, it’s super stressful. It’s just fun to dance,” Tomkoski said.