There’s a new sheriff in town. Or, at least, a new teacher in the ballroom.
With the start of the new school year, Paul Roach has stepped into the position of Ballroom Director. Having risen from the post of CCBDC President he held last spring, Paul had some definite ideas about what he wanted to accomplish in the ballroom and beyond it.
Paul:
Coming in I knew that we had a phenomenal program--I’ve never encountered a program that so many people have such a passion for, and I think that if we direct that enthusiasm in the right direction, we will accomplish some amazing things. Not only will we continue to be a world-class performance and competitive ensemble, but we can use that to give back to and improve the community in ways that have not previously been explored. Whether it’s helping start dance programs at other colleges, teaching young children to dance, giving Claremont Colleges students places to dance, or providing Claremont Colleges students with financial and social access to social and competitive dancing, I know this program has a lot to offer. And that’s just off the top of my head.
From the students’ perspective of the program, one of the most apparent differences has been an increased emphasis on technique. And with this an increase in personal attention, mainly in the form of individual critique and comments.
David Carrington, a student of Paul’s, had this to say:
Paul's individual attention to my Latin technique has fixed bad habits that I would never have known to correct without his one-on-one critiques. He not only teaches classes of 20-100 people, but has lent his practiced eye to changing dancer-specific details like my swiveling cha-cha feet!
Paul has also been working behind the scenes to change some other aspects of the ballroom program. One of those changes is the extension of Silver level International Latin and Standard classes into a two-semester curriculum, and (within the next few semesters) requiring instructor permission to register for Gold level classes.
Paul:
One of the really difficult problems in the dance classes is that, at maximum, we have three levels per style, and previously, each of those classes taught the same thing each semester. Therefore, a student starting first semester freshman year could possibly top out our classes by second semester sophomore year. Not only that, but you end up with such a range of skill levels in each class that the highest level classes are nearly pointless except for giving high level students the chance to dance with each other. As I’m already teaching nine classes, it’s not really a viable option for me to offer more, so I’ve made these changes to give students a longer lifespan in the program and to also help teach to both those students who are new to dance and/or learn at a slower rate as well as those students with previous experience or a great aptitude for dance.
Beyond that, Paul has been working with the administration to make ballroom classes available on a half or full-credit basis by involving written work more critically examining the technical aspects of the dance.
Kelly Hewitt, a dance minor, thinks this would be a positive change:
Ballroom has been integral to my dance experience here at the Claremont Colleges, as it has been for many other dance minors and majors. It would be wonderful to see this acknowledged institutionally in the future.
Even with all this work going on behind the scenes, Paul has been able to make the transition from student to teacher, and is really enjoying his new role.
Paul:
It’s really hard for me to think of a job I would prefer to do, except maybe this job but with a chance to sleep knowing that I actually had enough hours to finish everything I was supposed to do that day. Which means I’m either waiting for someone to invent a way to add hours in the day (a few of my Harvey Mudd students have shown great promise in this direction), or coming up with ways to clone myself (no one has admitted working on this terrifying possibility). In the interim, however, the students I’m working with are absolutely incredible, and the accomplishments we’ve had this year already (and especially those to come) are just as much their accomplishments as mine. This is going to be an absolutely outstanding year.
