Father Time and Mother Earth were one of the many masked couples who showed up for a night of waltzing, dinner and entertainment. The Masquerade Ball Thursday was a night that many who showed up said they would never forget.

The Halloween-themed ball started the night with a four-course meal provided by USU catering.

The Skyroom on the fourth floor of the Taggart Student Center hosted and catered the event as a DJ played a variety of music from the big-band swing era, cha-cha, rumba and waltz.

The Ballroom Dance Team entertained the crowd with a choreographed performance. Soon after the team showed off its talents, lessons on how to waltz were given by Ballroom Dance members.

The night was filled with couples dipping and dancing their way into the night. Couples had a chance to win prizes for their cleverly designed masks and costumes. Tickets that were filled out by couples when they arrived were drawn for door prizes donated for the special event by local businesses.

“I’ve always wanted to go to a masquerade,” Mother Earth, and art major, Anne Taylor, said as she stood next to her husband, Gabriel Taylor who was dressed as Father Time.

Taylor’s costume was made from green and brown clothes purchased, cut up and sewn together from Deseret Industries (DI). Father Time wore a mask made to resemble a clock, and the couple carried staves made from tiki torches modified for their costumes.

Jessica Beach, junior studying elementary education, who donned a costume that reflected Christine from “Phantom of the Opera,” said she enjoyed how the night was setup. Her date, wearing a Phantom costume, David Nilson, said the night was everything he had hoped for.

Dance United co-president Will Christensen said Julia Christensen, who is part of the committee for ballroom dancing, had the idea for a masquerade. The idea, Julia said, came from watching all the chick flicks where the girl is taken to a ball.

Julia said, “Any girl you ask likes to dress up, dance and get taken out to dinner. It’s just what a chick flick is, only for real life.”

Dave Hess said he felt the ball was a good way to make students aware of Dance United Club.

Hess, president over the Big Band Swing Club, and Will said they had teamed up over the summer to start Dance United in order to create interest for the many styles of dancing.

In previous years, Dance United was split between two clubs, Big Band Swing and Ballroom. Each club had a room reserved in the HPER one night a week for anyone who was interested.

Will and Hess said the HPER decided to change its policy over the summer and no longer allows clubs to reserve out rooms consistently during the school year. The new policy only allows people to rent out rooms the week of.

“If you don’t have a consistent time and meeting place, there’s no way to build a club,” Will said.

After the two clubs were notified about the policy change, Hess said he sought out the president of the Ballroom Club to come up with something to help out both clubs.

Will and Hess said they decided to use both clubs to promote one night of the week for dancing. Hess said they were able to work out a deal with Club New York to host Dance United there on Tuesdays.

“Dance United was the chosen name because it is a conglomerate of different dance clubs,” Hess said.

The club is a combination of ballroom dancing and big band swing.

Hess and Will said they wanted to use the two clubs to host one night where anyone can learn any number of styles while keeping the identities of the clubs separate.

“It’s been a bigger challenge than we anticipated to keep the identities separate,” Hess said. “Dance United has become its own club.”

Each side of Dance United has a number of people helping out. Will said he and Hess have at least 10 positions that volunteers have filled in order to keep the clubs running.

“We have a great group of people working with us, and I have enjoyed working with them,” Hess said.

Hess was the original person overseeing the Tuesday night dancing, but Joshua Ferrer, mathematics major, has volunteered to take over.

So far the club seems to be doing well. Ferrer said on an average night, if the club isn’t competing with campus-oriented activities, Dance United brings in anywhere between 50-60 dancers a week. Hess said about 120 people have signed up for Dance United and the number continues to grow. Hess said the club membership has no limit so any student can sign up anytime during the year.

Holding events like the Masquerade Ball, Will said, is kind of a publicity stunt to bring in interest for Dance United and it seems to be working.

“We have been working hard on making a positive brand image for Dance United,” Will said.

The Masquerade Ball isn’t the only event held to heighten interest. The Big Band Swing Club annually hosts the Elite Hall Benefit. This year the benefit dance will be held at Hyrum’s Elite Hall on Nov. 21. Hess said this year the club plans on having a live band, performances by the swing teams and a lot of dancing. He said the benefit brings in about 200 people a year and is a lot of fun to attend. The dance is to help raise money to keep Elite Dance Hall running.

During the spring semester, Hess said, Big Band Swing helps host Harlem Nights, a two-day event in February. It’s held in Logan, Hess said, but people from all over come to Cache Valley to enjoy performances and lessons from professional big band swing artists and nonstop dancing.

Will said the Ballroom Club is planing another ball aroudn April Fools Day. On top of that, ballroom-dance teams and swing teams perform all over Logan.

“Hopefully we are doing our part in getting people interested,” Will said.

Ferrer said Dance United hosts dancing every Tuesday night at Club New York from 8-11 p.m. Tickets cost $4 per person per night. If people pay $5 to become a member, they get in for $2 a night, Ferrer said. Plus, he said, the first 20 members to show up get in for free.

Club New York has two separate rooms that Dance United uses, one for the Ballroom Club and one for the Big Band Swing Club. Throughout the night, there are drawings, prizes and lessons. Each side, Ferrer said, teaches lessons from 8-8:30 p.m. and another set of lessons from 9-9:30 p.m., so there are a total of four lessons being taught every night.

People can learn a variety of dance styles, from ramba, salsa and waltz to Charleston and Lindy Hop, Will said.

“People there are willing to teach all night long,” Will said. “There are four official lessons each night on the hour. We definitely want beginners there. This is not just a club for people who know how to dance, it’s for people who want to learn.”

– cassi.joe.cline@aggiemail.usu.edu