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There’s a moment that happens in almost every beginner ballroom class.
The music starts. Everyone looks around the room. Someone laughs nervously. A few people quietly wonder if they’ve made a terrible mistake.
“I have two left feet.”
“I don’t know anybody.”
“What if I’m terrible?”
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By the end of the evening, those same people are smiling.
For more than six decades, that’s been the quiet magic of the University of Saskatchewan Ballroom Dancing Club.
It isn’t really about mastering the tango or remembering the steps to a cha-cha. It’s about watching strangers become friends, watching nervous beginners find confidence and discovering that a dance class can become the highlight of your week.
“It’s one of those hidden gems,” said club president Susan Svenkeson. “We’re going into our 62nd year as a club.”
The University of Saskatchewan Ballroom Dancing Club began in 1965. At its peak, 1,500 members would gather to practice their skills. (Submitted)
The club began in 1965 when two Nigerian graduate students, Olajide Koleoso and Ike Azogu, introduced ballroom dancing to the U of S campus. Thirty members, a two-dollar membership fee and an old phonograph were enough to get things started.
More than 60 years later, the club has become one of Canada’s largest social ballroom dance organizations. At its peak, membership climbed to roughly 1,500 dancers.
Today, about 500 members fill dance floors every year — proof that the appetite for dancing, friendship and community hasn’t disappeared.
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“It’s just a fun opportunity to try something different,” said vice-president Byron Hnatuk.
“For me, the joy is seeing someone come out of their shell. They come in and they’re like this nervous Nellie. They’re like, ‘Oh, I don’t know if this is going to be for me.'”
He sees it every year.
People who arrive convinced they’ll embarrass themselves. People who insist they can’t dance. People who almost don’t walk through the door.
“The biggest thing to get over for beginners is they think, ‘Oh, I have two left feet,'” he noted. “But when you look at the room, so do half the people in that room. You’re all starting at the same level. Day one, nobody’s better than you.”
For many members, ballroom dancing becomes something much bigger than a hobby.
Hnatuk originally joined in 2004 as part of his physiotherapy while recovering from a shattered pelvis. A friend encouraged him to give dancing a try.
Eventually, he met the woman who would become his wife through the club.
“It’s community. It’s friendship. It’s a chance to do something new,” he said. “You flick that switch; it’s doing something that you normally wouldn’t do, and it actually helps you grow as a person.”
Byron Hnatuk, Susan Svenkeson and Melvin Wong are all executive members of the University of Saskatchewan Ballroom Dancing Club. They all agree that absolutely anyone can learn to dance. (Brittany Caffet/650 CKOM)
That transformation is something Svenkeson loves watching from the front of the classroom.
“People walk in and they know nothing,” she said. “By the end of our first term in November, they’re moving. And then by the second term, they’re dancing.”
The club offers beginner, intermediate and advanced levels, welcoming everyone from complete newcomers to experienced dancers.
Instructors teach an impressive variety of dances throughout the year, including waltz, foxtrot, tango, two-step, rumba, cha-cha, East Coast swing, jive, salsa, Viennese waltz, quickstep and West Coast swing.
But despite the breadth of the curriculum, competition isn’t the goal. Social dancing is.
The lessons are designed so people can confidently step onto a dance floor at a wedding, a community dance or one of the club’s elegant formal events.
Throughout the year, members receive 20 weeks of lessons, weekly practice sessions, workshops, casual dances and glamorous evenings at TCU Place where everyone has an excuse to dress up.
“If you can walk, you can dance,” Svenkeson insisted.
The club also breaks one of the biggest myths about ballroom dancing.
You don’t need to bring a partner.
In fact, many people come alone.
Partners rotate throughout class, making it easy to meet new people and ensuring everyone gets equal time on the dance floor.
Despite its name, you don’t need to be a student at the U of S to join the University of Saskatchewan Ballroom Dancing Club. (Submitted)
That welcoming atmosphere is one of the first things new member Melvin Wong noticed.
A former competitive ballroom dancer in Vancouver, Wong says ballroom dancing hasn’t always been viewed as a niche hobby. Within living memory, it was simply part of social life.
“It wasn’t that long ago — it was probably in my grandparents’ era — everyone just knew,” he said. “In Europe, it’s a very normal thing. People know how to do a Viennese waltz without too much prompting.”
Today, many people see ballroom dancing as something mysterious or intimidating.
Wong believes that’s more about perception than reality.
“A lot of it is also getting out of your shell, because a lot of guys feel like ‘oh I’ve got to be more macho’ or whatever.”
In truth, the hardest step isn’t the foxtrot.
It’s deciding to show up.
For many members, that single decision leads to new friendships, newfound confidence, unexpected adventures and, occasionally, lifelong relationships.
As another season approaches, the club is preparing to welcome its next wave of beginners — the people who currently believe dancing isn’t for them.
Registration opens Aug. 1 through the club’s website, where participants can choose the class that fits their schedule. The club welcomes everyone over the age of 16, not just University of Saskatchewan students, although students can receive a $25 discount.
More than six decades after two graduate students transformed a Saskatchewan winter with music and movement, the formula hasn’t changed very much.
People arrive uncertain.
They leave dancing.
For 62 years, the University of Saskatchewan Ballroom Dancing Club has turned hesitant beginners into confident dancers — creating friendships, memories and a community that keeps people coming back. (Submitted)
