When I was in high school Matt Leinart (USC, Arizona Cardinals QB) taking only Ballroom Dance his senior year in college seemed a little outlandish.  Now I see it in a whole different light.

I went into KINES 017, from here on referred to as Ballroom Dance, with a little skepticism.  I was no dancer, never tried to be, never claimed to be.  I always found other things to do at parties than ‘get down.’  After the initial awkwardness the class actually turned out to be really fun.  I had to trek clear to the IM Building everyday, and run to the IST building in 15 minutes (not possible) afterward, but in the end it was a great choice.

We were taught a myriad of dances, had two dance tests, one written test and a prom.  Yes college students, a prom.  Guys in suits, girls in dresses.  The only difference?  Everyone actually knows how to dance this time around.  If I had half the moves in my high school prom I had at this college prom, well, I’ll let your mind wander.

The first test covered the Waltz, Swing, and Foxtrot.  Two closed dances (Waltz and Foxtrot) and one open dance (Swing).  In class you dance around a circle, getting practice with each different girl in the class, then for testing you pair off.  I got pretty lucky in that my dance partner was both attractive and a good dancer. Jackpot.  The good thing about this class is that you don’t have to have any dancing knowledge of any kind coming in to do well.  Professor Martha Anderson actually likes it when her students have no training because sometimes it gets in the way of how she teaches.  I am a perfect example.  Before Ballroom Dance I had two (three, four, etc.) left feet. Probably couldn’t have danced my way out of my dorm room.  But you learn each dance step-by-step, making it easy to pick up. Now I am quite comfortable in my ‘skills.’

By now everyone in the class was getting pretty decent at this whole Ballroom Dance thing.  We learned the Polka, Merengue, Cha-Cha, Tango, and Salsa next.  We only were tested on the latter three, but the Polka was one of my favorite.  My grandmother was quite proud to learn that I had grasped the complexities of the Polish-American’s national dance.  This testing happened the last week of classes and comprised two open dances (Cha-Cha and Salsa) and one closed dance (Tango).  Tango was definitely my favorite dance in the class, although Salsa is the only dance with a real club on campus.  I may keep up with it.  I ended up getting an A in the class (which don’t think this is an easy A class, the professor only gives out so many As as the University told her to stop giving them to everybody).

It was a really good experience, one that I recommend every Penn State student takes advantage of.  You’ll have to wait until Senior year though as the class is always one to fill up quick with Athletes, Honors Kids, and Seniors.  I will definitely be using my acquired dancing skills to my advantage during the remainder of my time here at Penn State.  Take the class, you might be surprised to see how fun dancing can actually be.

Check out Penn State’s Ballroom Dance Club here.