Yimeng Xu, Newcomer Chair
The newcomer chair is responsible for welcoming and integrating newcomers into the club and building a newcomer community by maintaining the newcomer Facebook group, organizing newcomer-related events, and being a visible figure that newcomers can go to for help.
Year and Major
MS 2018, Earth and Environmental Engineering
Why did you join CU Ballroom?
In senior of high school I was given the option of taking Ballroom Dance as a PE class which I took and loved, and then my undergraduate school (CMU) had a competitive team.
One thing joining and dancing ballroom taught you?
I'm gonna list so many actually: general confidence, public speaking skills, social skills, conflict resolution, negotiation, managing interpersonal relationships, club organization, event planning, musicality, muscle control, body coordination, posture, physics, anatomy, life, and everything (pretty much)
One thing you'd like to improve about ballroom through board this year?
I want more dancers to be inspired to dance all four competitive styles.
Favorite ballroom dance and favorite social dance?
Currently, probably viennese waltz and zouk!
Favorite/funny ballroom memory?
Performance artist for a day, TBAing 5 partners in all 19 dances at the open level at a competition.
If you could have anything/anyone for a dance partner, what would you chose?
My partner Danica, because we've been at it since the beginning (7 years and counting!) and we worked hard to be good partners to each other!!
Advice for newcomers/people interested in joining ballroom?
Ballroom teaches you so much more than just dance. You put in the effort and it pays back way more than you could have imagined!
Fun fact!
As far as I know, I have the longest continuous partnership in collegiate ballroom (at least among currently active competitors). We also were randomly paired together during our high school ballroom PE class to do a final project showcase together, so we've been dancing together since most of you were in middle school C: