KIRSTEN GUDMUNDSE
The twenty-third annual BYU DanceSport Championships offered two days of ballroom dancing last weekend, ranging from the classic grace of waltz to the rock-n-roll style of swing.
The event, sponsored by the BYU Ballroom Dance Division, was in the Smith Fieldhouse last Friday and Saturday.
Pre-teens, youth and adults competed in standard ballroom, novice American, country western and Latin American.
Universities and studios from Utah and Idaho were presented in the competition, according to the championship program.
Hundreds of BYU students participated in the championships, including sophomores Laurie Davis and Tricia Reynolds.
Davis, who competed in the Dance 284 waltz, has been dancing for over three years and became interested in dance through the influence of televised competitions.
'I saw (ballroom dancing) on PBS, and I thought it was so neat. My high school offered classes, so I took it and have continued here at BYU,' she said. Davis is minoring is ballroom dance.
Last year, Davis received a fourth place award in Dance 184 quickstep.
'Winning an award means you have the confidence and ability to perform well enough and that people recognize your accomplishment,' she said.
Reynolds competed in her first dance championship this year.
'It is so much more fun and more inspiring then I thought it would be,' she said.
The audience was also able to participate in the championships. Throughout the evening, audience members voiced their support and enthusiasm by shouting out their favorite dance competitor's number.
The audience also enjoyed ten-minute intermissions of general dancing, which allowed non-competitors to enter the dance floor.
Saturday's events ended with more excitement when the 1996 U.S. Rising Star Latin American Champions, James and Jaana Kunitz, turned up the heat with their Latin showcase performances.
'I thought they gave a great performance. (James and Jaana) have a great relationship, and I could feel the feeling they gave off of each other,' said Juliann Miller, a dance competitor from Highland.
Alma Heaton, the founder of BYU's social dance program 43 years ago, helped present awards. He came to BYU in 1953 to start the program and has taught social dance classes.
Heaton gave some words of thought to the competitors and the audience.
'Remember, you have to dance through the pearly gates, you can't just walk through them,' he said. The audience responded in a loud, approving applause.
Several BYU students received awards in the categories of Bronze American (social dance), Country Western, Pre-Championship Latin American, Bronze Latin American, Silver American (swing) and Amateur Standard Ballroom.
Roman Santos, a sophomore from Palm Springs, Calif., majoring in history, and his partner, Cheramia Evans, won first place in the country western finals.
'We thought we would do well, but we weren't expecting to get first place because there were so many other good couples competing,' Santos said. This was Santos' first dance competition.