Oakland University club sports is welcoming a new addition to its program — the Ballroom Dance Club.

Sophomore Taylor Born, president of the Ballroom Dance Club, said the inspiration to create this club came after taking classes at Elegance in Motion, a ballroom dance studio in Auburn Hills.

After the teachers at Elegance in Motion approved Born’s idea, she began the process of creating an official club.

“We started working toward the club in November and got it approved in December.

The Board of Club Sports approved us, and we started advertising for our first official event,” Born said.

At their Jan. 31 open house, teachers gave a preview of all of the dance styles they would cover throughout the semester.

“I like the fact that we learned multiple dances. I actually wanted to start a ballroom club at Oakland, so when I saw this I had to join it,” Kailyn Angelakos, student and club member, said.

The ballroom club will meet Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m., and each class will last 45 minutes.

The first type of class offered is smooth dances which includes waltz, tango and foxtrot.

The second class is rhythm, which includes rhumba, cha-cha and east coast swing.

“No experience is needed at all. I know plenty of people who have been successful in dancing and they came in knowing how to tap their foot,” Sherri Anderson, dance teacher at Elegance in Motion, said.

The ballroom clubs plan is to ease into teaching the students the dance styles.

“Before every class there will always be a review moment where we go over what we did the previous week, and then we will move forward,” Anderson said.

As their membership grows, the ballroom club is hopeful that in the future they will be able to take part in ballroom competitions.

“We plan on attending competitions in the fall at the University of Michigan or at Michigan State. Next semester we’re also planning on having experienced and beginner levels,” Born said.

Students can decide to participate in one class session or both throughout the semester.

The price for one class session is $40 and the price for both is $60.

The club is also flexible on payments, as long as one is made throughout the semester.

Contact Multimedia Reporter Kailee Mathias via email at [email protected]