[Ballroom dance lesson music]
DARASIMI BANKOLE: BLAST…that’s short for Northwestern’s Ballroom, Latin, and Swing Team. It’s more than just spins and heels though. They’re a community that turns beginners into dancers, and dancers into family. For Brooke Nelson, BLAST’s Publicity Chair, ballroom was a bucket-list item.
BROOKE NELSON: I have been dancing since I was about six but I’d never done ballroom and ballroom was always something I wanted the chance to do.
DB: But she says what really keeps her coming back isn’t just the choreography.
NELSON: It’s a good creative outlet and it’s also a good community. All the people that are in this club are super nice, they’re some of my closest friends. I was just telling one of the girls that I talk to them more than my mom which is probably not great, but it’s what’s happening right now, so it’s just really nice people and everyone’s super supportive, so it’s a nice community.
DB: The group’s competition coordinator, Tolu Ogunbome, says joining BLAST has taken her past just the dance floor.
TOLU OGUNBOME: I could go anywhere and I can meet people who, people who I don’t know and like, we can dance together, and so it just kind of means being part of like a global community and also having something to do other than going crazy with academics at Northwestern.
DB: BLAST President Abby Miggiani looks at dance as a whole new language, a conversation without words.
ABBY MIGGIANI: It’s interesting because you’re communicating in a way that most people won’t understand because it’s the pressure points, it’s the body of contact, it’s all of these physical movements and cues that lead you into moves and kind of create, make partner dancing so rewarding.
For sophomore Sabrina Zhang, dance is more than just steps…it’s healing, discovery, and expression.
SABRINA ZHANG: I have been injured before which has hindered me from dance, so I’m like ever so grateful to be able to like get back on the dance floor and dance like I have before, so it’s something that I hold really close to my heart. I think dance will always be this language that I’m unable to adequately express with words and it’s how I meet new people and get to know the side of them that they don’t usually, may not normally like express.
DB: That spirit of inclusivity runs through everything BLAST does…from free makeup and costume support for performances, to beginner lessons every Sunday at Chicago Ballet Arts, open to the entire Northwestern and Evanston community. For new members, like Samantha Esquivel, the Masquerade Ball is less about perfecting a routine and more about finding connection.
SAMANTHA ESQUIVEL: As long as I meet one more person, one new person that could give me a new perspective either about school or about dancing, that’s a win you know. I’m trying to put myself more out there while also having fun and dancing is always fun.
[Ballroom music]
DB: If you missed the ball, don’t worry…BLAST’s dance floor is always open. Lessons happen Sundays from 3 to 5 p.m. at Chicago Ballet Arts. No partner, no experience, and no mask required.
DB: For WNUR News, I’m Darasimi Bankole.
