Ballroom Dancing

"Ginger Rogers did everything Fred did, only backwards and in high heels."
                                                      - Bob Thaves

My love for ballroom dancing borders on irrational. It's hard to explain the euphoria of swinging and swaying across the floor in standard, or the feeling of power and elasticity in Latin. If I had any drug experiences to compare ballroom dancing to, ballroom would probably win out.

Click here to see pictures on Flickr of me dancing.

I have competed at the Championship level in International Standard since spring 2004. My last partner and I consistently topped the national collegiate circuit, were winners or finalists in local competitions, and placed at the top of the quarter-final in national competitions including the USA Dance Nationals, the NDCA Nationals, and the Ohio Star Ball. We were the 2004 California International Standard state champions. My partner recently moved to New York so I'm looking for a dance partner again. (If you're looking, I'm 5'5" without heels, 115 lbs, slim and athletic.) I haven't danced International Latin for a few years; when I stopped I was dancing at the Novice level. I'd be interested in picking it up again at some point, but my current strength is definitely Standard. I've also competed a few times in American Smooth and may be interested in pursuing Championship Smooth competitively.

I come from a dancing family: my mother is a professor of dance in Utah and my sister and aunt have performed with Ballet West. I began dance training at the age of five with modern dance, following that with ten years of lessons in classical ballet and Broadway-style jazz at the acclaimed Janet Grey Studios in Salt Lake City. I've augmented my movement training over the years with yoga, karate, rollerblading, biking, swimming, and a variety of other physical activities.

I started partner dancing in high school during the mid-90's swing revival. When I came to Berkeley for college in 1999, I joined UC Berkeley Ballroom Dancers and started taking their newly-formed DanceSport classes under the instruction of Ava Kaye. I joined their competitive team in 2000 when it was re-organized. I've made many friends and also met my boyfriend of over five years while ballroom dancing, and am active in the Bay Area ballroom community.

I've held many officer positions in UCBD, including instructional secretary, webmaster, team manager, team captain, and competition coordinator. I designed their website and have taught countless lessons for them. Unfortunately, after six years of team membership and five years of officer service, I quit UCBD in August 2005 in protest of the team's mismanagement. I'm now an officer in charge of teacher training for the Stanford Ballroom Dance Team and also volunteer my time teaching ballroom dance at low-income primary schools.

In summer 2003, I had a temporary partner in Seattle, Washington, where I was doing a research internship at the University of Washington. Under the instruction of Alexandria Hawkins and Olga Foroponova we danced novice and pre-championship Standard in the USABDA Northwestern Regionals and the Seattle Star Ball, and were finalists in all events we entered, despite having danced together for only a few weeks. I didn't dance in fall 2003 because of a foot injury. In March 2004, I found a partner in the Bay Area, and we danced championship Standard in all of the major Bay Area competitions and also traveled to larger competitions in Los Angeles, Minnesota, Miami, Utah, Vancouver, and more. We split in summer 2006 when he moved to New York.

Competition Results

College competitions: Local USABDA competitions: Regional USABDA and NDCA competitions: National competitions: Costume making

I make many of my own ballroom costumes. I've made half a dozen costumes and have sold several, both with rhinestones and without. I also make practice skirts and syllabus costumes. If you would like to buy a costume, email me at the email address listed at the bottom of the page.

Here are the ones I've worn myself, in the order I've made them.
my first try at costuming sage green red tango; sold pink champagne color; sale pending antique white; sale pending goldenrod and red