Hazel Beard ‘27
After I led my first Pomona College tour for Admissions, one of the first things a family said to me was, “Great tour! Also, you really love to dance – you just like to dance everywhere on this campus, don’t you?”
I hadn’t even realized I had talked so much about dance. Apparently every building was an opportunity for me to mention that I sometimes dance there.
Sometimes, dance gets tedious. You get tired, you get irritated, and you want to sleep in instead of going to 7 a.m. practice, or take a nap instead of going to evening classes. In fact, this past year (junior year) was truly my “dance rut” phase. I was having so much trouble enjoying dance. But undoubtedly, being part of the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company and taking so many incredible dance classes has been one of the most formative experiences of my college career. Every year is different, but what remains the same is my love and passion for dance.
This blog is a short love letter to it.
I joined the ballroom dance club my freshman year of college, not knowing where it would take me. I remember asking Dr. Denise Machin if I could join the Intermediate Smooth class quite cockily, having danced for about two years when I was in 4th–6th grade.
Boy, did I have no CLUE what I was about to get myself into.
That class reaffirmed that I did not AT ALL know what ballroom dancing truly was, and that my two years of lessons in elementary school meant absolutely nothing. After taking the class, I joined the ballroom dance club. From there, I slowly climbed the ranks of the ballroom dance teams, starting on Campus Team during the fall of freshman year and eventually making Tour Team by the fall of sophomore year. In my time at Pomona dancing with this team, I have realized several critical things:
1. Dance takes so much perseverance.
Oftentimes, people assume that loving something means you enjoy every second of it. But the reality for some lower-energy folks such as myself is… you hit low points. You get tired. You get frustrated. You sometimes dislike people you dance with (often not even their fault, you are just around them all the time). The thing you once loved and did as a hobby somehow starts to feel like a job. But keep going.
2. Friends are everything.
There has been nothing in this life that I haven’t been able to overcome with the help of friends. Every partner I’ve had for competitions, performances, and showcase numbers has become a dear friend. Over the past three years, I have watched so many people in ballroom come and go. Some were my best friends and dance partners, whom I miss dearly. Others were my mentors and coaches before I was lucky enough to dance alongside them on the Tour Team. It’s bittersweet, but it is also incredibly rewarding. In them, I can see growth — their growth and mine.
3. Pomona’s ballroom dance team is one of the best-funded clubs on campus.
We have a costume closet, we travel to competitions every semester, and we rent out Big Bridges for our Spring Showcase every year. Take advantage of these club resources. As I start to close out my time at Pomona, I want to highlight some of my absolute favorite dance memories:
As I start to close out my time at Pomona, I want to highlight some of my absolute favorite dance memories:
● Hydroplaning on the way to Cal Poly SLO for my first competition while Sarah, who had only had her license for one month, was driving.
● Singing “Sweet Caroline” behind the curtain in Big Bridges while sobbing because Ezra (my dance partner of two years) was graduating.
● Every single Spring Showcase.
● Placing in Latin finals with Ezra during our last competition together at Stanford. ● Getting first place in Rhythm with Nailah in every dance the very first time we competed together.
● Meeting my boyfriend Arsene in a nightclub dance class (bachata, salsa, merengue, and West Coast Swing). Dancing here literally brought me the love of my life. ● Taking West African Dance at Scripps and getting to enjoy dance opportunities across all of the Claremont Colleges.
● Attending the Scripps and Pomona dance shows every semester with my dance friends to support the incredible dancers performing styles completely different from our own.
I feel honored to be part of such a vibrant dance community.
As I head into my senior year, I hope to remain grateful for the amazing dance, travel, and performance opportunities I’ve been given, and to continue tapping into that raw, unfiltered, genuine love for dance.
Because who knows when I’ll have something like this again?