KU's competitive ballroom dance team offers students a new way to cut loose

There are two sides to Joseph Lomakin.

There’s the engineering graduate student — the guy who’s studious, meticulous and knee deep in scientific formulas in math problems. But then there’s this other person. A swirling, twirling dance floor pro.

Just how did these two personalities emerge from one person?

It started when Lomakin was an undergraduate at Tufts University. He was looking for something new, something beyond his comfort zone — a way to meet people outside the library walls.

He found DanceSport.

Competitive ballroom dance, or DanceSport, has enjoyed a recent burst in popularity, thanks to several movies and television programs that have shone a light on everyone from grade-school kids to minor celebrities strapping on their dancin’ shoes. But long before the cameras went on, the dance floors were always full at contests around the country.

Lomakin found that DanceSport was the perfect way to overcome his shyness.

“It gives you skills to interact with people and meet different people,” he says.

KU’s DanceSport team was founded about five years ago. This year, there are 18 members. The team competes about once per semester, earning money for travel and related expenses by working the concession stands at basketball games or performing at social dances.

Most recently, the KU students competed at the National Collegiate DanceSport Championships in Columbus, Ohio, along with 1,000 other teams. Lomakin, who’s from Swampscott, Mass., earned multiple awards. In fact, five pairs finished in the top 10 in several contest categories.

“It went pretty well,” he says modestly.

Lomakin’s partner is Emily Copeland, a KU senior from McPherson and president of the DanceSport team. She started dancing before she began kindergarten. She danced ballet, jazz and tap throughout her high school years, but really wanted to move into partner dancing. Copeland is a dance major at KU.

“In fact, that’s part of why I came to KU,” she says. “The dance program here has a really good reputation.”

The team practices once a week for two hours with a professional coach. Veteran student dancers also lead lessons for those new to the activity. As competitions near, couples can spend hours in the Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center practicing and perfecting their moves.

“The competitions are kind of like track meets,” says Copeland. “The couples dance in heats.”

As the dancing begins, the judges watch from the sidelines and mark the teams that should go on to the next round. There are 19 competitive ballroom dances, which are divided into American and international styles. Each style has its own subcategories of dance, including waltzes, tangos, rumbas and mambos. Couples compete against others with similar training experience in five categories: newcomer, bronze, silver, gold and open. Dances in each category have a syllabus that the contestants must adhere to (except in the open category). As they move up the ranks, dancers can add more complicated and showy moves to their routines.

Lomakin and Copeland, who typically compete in Latin dance categories, stress that the activity isn’t as complicated as some might think.

“DanceSport is athletic, but it’s accessible to anyone,” says Lomakin.

In fact, Copeland says, the KU DanceSport team welcomes people with all experience levels. No tryouts are required.

“You can get really good in just a few years,” said Lomakin. “And then you can enjoy it for the rest of your life.”

By Lauren Beatty