By Lisa Kaczke

Twenty students moved across the dance floor to the noise of clapping and shouting. “Slow, slow, quick, quick,” instructor Peter Jetty shouts.

They stop as Jetty explains, “The biggest thing is posture.” There is no eye contact and the woman looks over the man’s right shoulder.

“It’s kind of a snobby thing,” Jetty said to the group as he and partner Meg Gibbon strike a pose to demonstrate. The clapping and dancing began again as a frustrated participant asked, “Where’s my hand supposed to go?”

Students gathered in 128 Dockser Hall for five evenings last week during Spring Dance Camp. The free camp is run by Northeastern’s Ballroom Dance Club and is offered at the beginning of every quarter. According to ballroom dance team member Owen Travers, they offer the camp to “refresh people’s minds on dances and to generate interest in the organization.”

Each night members of the ballroom dance team taught a different type of dance. The lessons began with the instructor teaching the basic steps. Once everyone had that down, they added on to it with a more complicated sequence. After learning the steps for an hour to the sound of the director counting the beats, the music was turned on and everyone could practice what they had learned. Team members looked on to correct and help people who were having trouble.

The number of participates varied every night.

“People pick and choose their dances,” Jetty said. They had thirty to forty people for the tango and swing lessons on Sunday and Monday nights compared to ten for the hustle on Tuesday night. According to Jetty, they usually have more people in the lessons for the faster dances. According to team member Mary-Kathleen Deloge, they see a resurgence whenever a movie about dancing comes out.

“People will come rushing to the classes,” she said.

People in the ballroom dance classes during the day come to the lessons at night to either make up a missed class or to get more practice. Ballroom dance student Jason Richland said he came to the Cha-cha lesson because he loves it and “to meet chicks.” Every Monday night, the club offers a free dance lesson, which is open to all Huskies. A partner or prior experience is not necessary. Those who want to compete are on the ballroom dance team. A professional coach comes in on Saturdays to coach the team. According to Jetty, they compete four times a year against other schools.

“We have people at all levels of competition,” Travers said.

In addition to the competitions and lessons, they go to social events to “have fun and build team unity,” said team member Werner Henneberg.

“I would have left it along time ago if I wasn’t having fun,” Deloge said.