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I am not an MIT student. Can I take lessons in BDC workshops?

Why should I become a BDC member and how can I become one?

I am a MIT student but forget to bring my BDC membership card. Can I still get free admission?

May I observe before attending a workshop?

Do I need a partner to attend the workshops?

What prior experience is necessary to follow the BDC workshops?

I missed the first two weeks of workshops. Is it too late to start attending?

Do you teach private lessons and coach wedding couples?

What should I wear to the workshops?

 

Answers:

I am not an MIT student. Can I take lessons in BDC workshops?

Yes, the vast majority of BDC events are open to the general public, though they are free only for MIT students.

Why should I become a BDC member and how can I become one?

BDC members volunteer their time and efforts to help out many Club taaks. You may sign up the Club's Volunteer Committee to request the BDC membership. Whoever joins the Volunteer Committee will be partially compensated in proportional to his/her volunteer efforts.

I am a MIT student but forget to bring my BDC membership card. Can I still get free admission?

Yes, if you have your MIT student ID with you. But you may need to sign in again. You are spared with the sign-in process if you also have your BDC membership card with you.

May I observe before attending a workshop?

Yes, you are allowed to observe workshops if you are new to BDC's workshops. However, if in the middle of a workshop, you feel interested enough that you would like to start participating, you must pay the workshop fee. Regular observations more than a couple of times are not allowed.

Do I need a partner to attend the workshops?

No, you do not need to come with a partner. We often rotate partners throughout the workshops, so that everyone gets a chance to practice with several different partners.

What prior experience is necessary to follow the BDC workshops?

None for the beginner workshops. We typically offer a series lessons in a beginner workshop with increasing levels of difficulty for each type of ballroom dance, and the first workshop in such a series is always taught completely at the beginner level. Each subsequent workshop builds on what was covered in the previous lessons.

However, participants in the advanced workshop series are assumed to have good command of basic dance figures and techniques.

I missed the first two weeks of workshops. Is it too late to start attending?

No, you may start attending the workshops at any point. The instructors usually do a review at the beginning of each workshop, so even if you missed a couple of classes, you can certainly still catch up. You may just have to work a bit harder than members who attended from the start.

However, it is generally more difficult to catch up if you miss a class in the advanced workshop series.

Do you teach private lessons and coach wedding couples?

No, the Club does not offer these services. However, we can potentially give you names and contact information for instructors who would be happy to teach you privately. Members of the Team are also occasionally available to teach wedding couples.

What should I wear to the workshops?

You do not need any kind of special dance clothing or ballroom shoes for the workshops. In general, members dress casually and wear flexible shoes (e.g. sneakers). For those who are interested in purchasing dancewear, we would recommend Patterson's in Burlington or Teddy's Shoes in Cambridge.

 

The MIT Ballroom Dance Club | Updated: January 3, 2012

Massachusetts Institute of Technology