About Us

GW Ballroom at The George Washington University (Washington, D.C.) is an organization people who share a passion for ballroom dancing. We have a competition team that attends intercollegiate and amateur ballroom dance competitions. This team also gives classes which are open to the GW community and publicizes events and opportunities in the DC Ballroom community.

The Executive Board 2007-2008:

            President: Ashley Bohrer

            Treasurer: Natasha DeSouza

            Team Captain: Mallory Sheff

            Logisitics Coordinator: Lauren Lederman

            Webmaster: Benjamin Dills

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us in the following ways:

Instant message: gwballroom

Email: ballroom@gwu.edu

GW Ballroom History (abridged and largely plagiarized)

The George Washington University Ballroom Dance Club was founded in 1993. The university had a for-credit ballroom class taught by Dr. Nancy Johnson, Professor of Theater and Dance, and students in the class started the club. The for-credit classes were discontinued at some point. Weekly social dance classes were held for one hour in the Dorothy Betts Marvin Theater. The classes were taught by competition team members and a different dance was taught each week. Competition team classes were taught by Silke Nowak (former partner of Dan Calloway).

In the fall of 1996, the Ballroom Dance Society (BDS) became a registered student organization with Professor Maida Withers in the Department of Theatre and Dance serving as faculty advisor. The spring of 1997 saw the advent of regular, professionally instructed classes. The club hired Karen Trimble to teach a weekly one-hour and a half beginner class covering the six basic dances (waltz, tango, foxtrot, cha-cha, rumba, and swing) along with a one-hour and a half competition class covering the same dances. Membership quadrupled from approximately 30 members to over 135 members.

The next academic year (1997-98), the classes were relocated to the aerobics room in the Smith Center, with Karen Trimble continuing to teach now three one-hour classes. The active membership of the club expanded, mostly from the involvement of graduate and law students and non-GW affiliated people. A weekly practice session was also held in the same room, with a small, solid number of regulars. During the 1998-99 academic year, the GW ballroom club partnered with the new Jitterbugs’ Swing Club (JSC), and began to offer Lindy Hop classes taught by Steve Bailey and his partners. Practice space was cancelled to hold the popular and jam-packed Lindy classes.

Philosophical differences and the issue of finances led to irreconcilable differences between the BDS and the JSC and their partnership ceased to be. The fall of 1998 was the last semester the BDS made a sizable profit from revenue from the classes. Membership began to dwindle as most of the team graduated and money management issues arose due to an over-ambitious class schedule.

After a series of ups and downs in the executive board leadership and finances, we skip to the year 2002. It was during this year that our ballroom classes moved to the new Health and Wellness Center. Over the past half decade, with strong leadership solidified by Loren Clark-Moe, Matt Meyer (now GW alums), and our coach, Lee Leiber, the club has become a strong, active presence on campus again. We now compete as a team in at least five competitions per year and hold social events for the GW community.

		About Us

Home About Us FAQ Classes Events Competitions Competition Results Links		GW Ballroom at The George Washington University (Washington, D.C.) is an organization people who share a passion for ballroom dancing. We have a competition team that attends intercollegiate and amateur ballroom dance competitions. This team also gives classes which are open to the GW community and publicizes events and opportunities in the DC Ballroom community. The Executive Board 2007-2008: President: Ashley Bohrer Treasurer: Natasha DeSouza Team Captain: Mallory Sheff Logisitics Coordinator: Lauren Lederman Webmaster: Benjamin Dills If you have any questions, feel free to contact us in the following ways: Instant message: gwballroom Email: ballroom@gwu.edu GW Ballroom History (abridged and largely plagiarized) The George Washington University Ballroom Dance Club was founded in 1993. The university had a for-credit ballroom class taught by Dr. Nancy Johnson, Professor of Theater and Dance, and students in the class started the club. The for-credit classes were discontinued at some point. Weekly social dance classes were held for one hour in the Dorothy Betts Marvin Theater. The classes were taught by competition team members and a different dance was taught each week. Competition team classes were taught by Silke Nowak (former partner of Dan Calloway). In the fall of 1996, the Ballroom Dance Society (BDS) became a registered student organization with Professor Maida Withers in the Department of Theatre and Dance serving as faculty advisor. The spring of 1997 saw the advent of regular, professionally instructed classes. The club hired Karen Trimble to teach a weekly one-hour and a half beginner class covering the six basic dances (waltz, tango, foxtrot, cha-cha, rumba, and swing) along with a one-hour and a half competition class covering the same dances. Membership quadrupled from approximately 30 members to over 135 members. The next academic year (1997-98), the classes were relocated to the aerobics room in the Smith Center, with Karen Trimble continuing to teach now three one-hour classes. The active membership of the club expanded, mostly from the involvement of graduate and law students and non-GW affiliated people. A weekly practice session was also held in the same room, with a small, solid number of regulars. During the 1998-99 academic year, the GW ballroom club partnered with the new Jitterbugs’ Swing Club (JSC), and began to offer Lindy Hop classes taught by Steve Bailey and his partners. Practice space was cancelled to hold the popular and jam-packed Lindy classes. Philosophical differences and the issue of finances led to irreconcilable differences between the BDS and the JSC and their partnership ceased to be. The fall of 1998 was the last semester the BDS made a sizable profit from revenue from the classes. Membership began to dwindle as most of the team graduated and money management issues arose due to an over-ambitious class schedule. After a series of ups and downs in the executive board leadership and finances, we skip to the year 2002. It was during this year that our ballroom classes moved to the new Health and Wellness Center. Over the past half decade, with strong leadership solidified by Loren Clark-Moe, Matt Meyer (now GW alums), and our coach, Lee Leiber, the club has become a strong, active presence on campus again. We now compete as a team in at least five competitions per year and hold social events for the GW community.