By Jackson Keenan, Editor
For the past four years, Cru Ballroom has been a place where students can hang out, practice, and safely learn swing, two-step and line dancing.
The club offers a place for everyone, from beginners looking to learn the basics to more advanced dancers seeking to improve their skills and learn new moves.
“We use it as a safe space to learn without being afraid of looking stupid or messing up, and we think it's really important,” new club president Raelee Greer said.
Beyond being a welcoming environment, the club is expanding to include new styles of dancing such as swing, Latin, polka, English swing, and others. According to Greer, this change is part of an effort to make the club more well-rounded and to grow beyond the styles already offered.
“Dance is worldly. It's not just an American thing. I don't want it to be, ‘We only teach this.’ I want the club to be very well-rounded and be a place where anybody that wants to learn any style of dance can come and learn,” Greer said.
The club is not only a place to dance but also a space for building community especially for freshmen who want to meet new people. Sophomore Za’Ryah Deckard, the club’s social media manager, said the group has helped her open socially.
“I'm usually a shy person who stays to themselves and does their work alone. But now I've come to understand that people are important, and I like being around others more than I usually do,” Deckard said.
Although the club is relatively new, it continues to see strong student interest, with around 40 to 50 students participating at the start of each semester and typically finishing with 20 to 30 members.
The group is looking to expand further, including through a potential partnership with the university’s Kingdom Diversity department.
“We’ve been in talks with Kingdom Diversity about partnering with them for a Czech event this semester because they know we do polka, a Czech-inspired dance. I was like, absolutely, we'd love to do that,” Greer said.
Another way the club promotes growth is through its annual spring dance competition, where dancers from Baylor University are invited to compete in various styles.
For students interested in joining, the club meets at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays at the Mayborn Campus Center.
