Dancing is a popular form of self-expression and exercise. The classic, beautiful art of ballroom dancing can be used anywhere and can be straightforward to learn. After falling in love with the art, sophomores Caroline Mahoney and Emily Ganz wanted to share it with the school, starting the Ballroom Dance Club.

Ballroom Dance Club meets every other Friday from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. in room 124. At the meetings, students learn a small dance routine and hold a dance circle for everyone to show off what they have accomplished. The club supplies snacks, including pizza and ice cream, for participants. Any student of Westford Academy, no matter age and experience, can join and learn something new.

There are two different types of ballroom dancing; performing and casual. Mahoney and Ganz teach more casual ballroom dancing or social dancing that people of any dance experience can learn. Some of these include salsa and cha-cha. Ballroom Dance Club doesn’t have any performances, and is about relaxing and enjoying dance together, according to the club’s founders.

Mahoney has been doing ballroom dance for five years and currently practices at Dance New England (DNE) in Chelmsford. She came up with the idea for the club and asked Ganz to join her in running it.

“It was my idea and I didn’t want to be alone because it was an intimidating responsibility, so I asked Emily to make the club with me,” Mahoney said.

Ganz doesn’t have any ballroom experience but has been a dancer for ten years. She is currently dancing at Dance Center Unlimited in Chelmsford. It took a month and a half for the two of them to get permission from the school board to start the club. They began by polling the school and starting to understand student interest.

“We really had to advertise, take surveys. At football games, we would go around and ask people. We really had to get the word out before we could officially start it,” Mahoney said

Caroline had the idea to start this club because she loved the community created by dance. Now the club has been up and running for two months.

“I loved the community that ballroom brought and it brings so many people together. You can meet new people and it’s a great way to end the week because we have meetings on Fridays,” Mahoney said.

Ganz and Mahoney believe that ballroom dancing is a way to make friends and build confidence. It pushes people into new situations and out of their comfort zone. The founders have set up the club so it can be a very casual group performance space and members aren’t required to come to every meeting. At meetings, there have been as many as thirty people at once or as few as four. New people join every meeting, creating a fun and peaceful atmosphere.

In the future, Mahoney and Ganz will work to keep the club’s community running. They also hope to plan fun events in the future in order to fundraise money for important causes.

New members are encouraged to join at any time.

“All are welcome! Come as you are and you’ll have a blast!” Mahoney and Ganz said.