For nearly three decades, Brown Ballroom Dance Team has provided students with a space to learn partner dancing, compete at collegiate tournaments and make new friends. Since many members start from scratch with no prior dance experience, the club does not require auditions — a feature that aims to promote a welcoming culture, club leaders told The Herald.
Marshall O’Callaghan ’28, a treasurer for the club, played tennis in high school. His athletic experience leads him to approach dance from a “sports mindset,” he said.
“I have little to no dance background,” he told The Herald. When he arrived at Brown, O’Callaghan wanted to “pick up a new sports activity,” and he found himself drawn to the community and competitive opportunities offered by BBDT.
More than experience, what matters is “how hard you work and how much time you put in,” O’Callaghan said, adding that he has met some of his best friends on the team.
“Everyone is trying to help everyone else be the best version of themselves,” he said.
Bri Seaborn ’27 also found the collaborative environment to be one of the most rewarding aspects of the team. “Partner dancing requires a great deal of vulnerability,” she said. “I wanted to push myself to see how much I could improve.”
Seaborn, who co-captains the team, said that she works to create the same welcoming community that first drew her in. Despite coming to Brown with no knowledge of ballroom dancing, Seaborn was “hooked” after her first competition, she said.
“We really foster an environment where people feel comfortable enough to break out of their shell,” she added.
Each week, members can attend ballroom dance sessions, which are separated by skill level but open to all. During competitions, dancers are grouped based on the number of semesters they have spent on the team and previous competitive performances.
“We are one of the strongest teams in the Northeast,” Seaborn said, adding that BBDT has several dancers who compete at the highest levels — gold and open. “We tend to place in finals in each of the competitions we attend,” she added.
On Oct. 26, the team hosted its 29th annual Brown Ballroom Competition at the Mount Saint Charles Academy in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, Seaborn said. In addition to teams from across the Northeast, including from Massachusetts and Connecticut, the event featured approximately 40 competitors from Brown.
“Putting on a competition is quite difficult,” Seaborn said. Because BBDT doesn’t have access to an on-campus space large enough to accommodate intercollegiate events, the team has to search for venues independently, she added. BBDT also has to hire a team of judges and acquire the technology necessary to livestream, record and score the competition.
“We have a lot of help from the Providence community,” Seaborn said. “We would not be able to put the competition together without that joint support.”
The club also hosts social opportunities outside of competitive dancing. Ian Chow ’28, a social chair for the team, explained that students “could be a part of our club, never participate in competitions, but still be really involved.”
The team organizes multiple social dances each year, encouraging students to meet new people and practice in a casual environment. “We want to make sure our club is a space for all commitments, all levels, all interests,” Chow said.
Every March, the club also hosts Dancing with the Professors, an event modeled after the American reality television series “Dancing with the Stars.” At the event, team members pair with Brown faculty for a dance showcase. “Last year was our first time doing it (since) COVID,” Chow said. “We are definitely looking to increase attendance a lot more this year.”
For many newcomers, BBDT is an accessible entry point into Brown’s dance scene. Anya Brunker ’29, who joined the team this fall, said the club offered her a chance to keep dancing in college without the time commitment of ballet, which she had done for 15 years.
“I think if there was some sort of audition, I would have been less inclined to join with no experience,” she added.
Despite the competitive nature of the sport, Brunker has observed a spirit of team camaraderie within BBDT. “Everyone is really happy for everybody else,” Brunker said. “There’s a lot of cheering on your friends.”
“Sometimes we’ll even lose our voices after competition just because of all that screaming,” Chow said.
Brunker, Chow, Seaborn and O’Callaghan all noted that BBDT’s inclusivity made their experiences on the team meaningful.
“It’s really nice to have some environment in this school where you have the space to make mistakes and to watch yourself improve,” Seaborn said.
