Last week, as part of the Welcome Back Week, many societies offered free or discounted Try It! sessions through the Students’ Union. With a new semester starting, there is no better time to start a new society or try something different. There were so many options to choose from, Her Campus blogger Leona tried four of them out…
Swing Society
Rating: 4/5
I’d never tried swing dancing before and didn’t really know what to expect from the session. We were first split into female and male sides of the room as the steps are different for each sex and learnt the basics to the Lindy Hop before joining up with a partner to practice the moves together to some music. The names to the moves were so simple and easy to understand – rock step, triple step, ba-dum, he goes and she goes. They may mean nothing to you readers now, but if you join Swing Soc, you’ll soon learn those and many more as they teach you to classic swing tunes. It’s also a great place to meet someone of the opposite sex as throughout the class you change partners every few minutes. The most difficult part of the class was remembering everyone’s names, I met and danced with over 20 different guys! In just one hour I was dancing swing and enjoying myself, I recommend it to those wanting to try partner dancing, don’t worry if you don’t have a partner!
Cost and timetable:
● Membership is £2 and can be purchased at the SU Box Office or online.
● Classes are Mondays and Thursdays in The Den (Portland Building) with Beginners starting at 6pm, followed by Improvers/Social Dance Skills at 7pm and Intermediates at 8.30pm.
● Classes cost £3 each or a semester pass can be bought for £18 which lasts the rest of the semester.
Learn to swing dance on campus!
For more information and membership click here.
Western Animated Media
Rating: 4.5/5
The WAM society organises Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks themed events including film screenings, nights out and there will also be a trip to Disneyland Paris later in the semester. For their Try It session, they offered a screening of Disney’s Frozen. There was a short Frozen quiz before the movie which I did appallingly bad on as I’d (ashamedly) never seen the film before. It was great to be able to watch a film and take my mind off everything else, animated films are also very special and can give us different things to think about, like true love’s kiss! It also makes a big difference watching a movie in a screening session rather than at home in bed with your phone next to you, get the real cinema experience on campus for a fraction of the price.
Cost and timetable:
● Membership costs £3 and can be purchased at the SU Box Office or online.
● Film screenings are held bi-monthly and are free for members, £1 for non-members.
Nothing like a good animated film to distract from exams and coursework
For more information or to become a member click here.
Flair Society
Rating: 5/5
Flair society is divided into two parts for all wannabe bartenders – flair training which is performing tricks with bottles and tins, and also mixology sessions where you get to make your own cocktails behind the bar at The Lacehouse. I attended both the Try It flair training session and the refreshers mixology where we made a Tutti Frutti and a Refreshers cocktail. The flair training is difficult as I’m not brilliant at multitasking with my hands and after several attempts of some of the moves my hands were a little sore and a nail was broken, calamity! But with practice, flair is a really good skill to have to show off to all your friends and family. The mixology sessions are great too as you get to mix your own cocktail and drink it with friends! Check out the video below to see the flair routine I learnt in just one hour!
Cost and timetable:
● Membership costs £3 and can be purchased at the SU Box Office or online.
● Flair training is 6-7pm in West Concourse Lounge (Portland building) Tuesdays and Thursdays and is free for members.
● Mixology sessions are on Thursdays after training, purchase tickets before to avoid disappointment.
Did I make the catch? You decide!
For more information and to become a member click here.
Belly Dance Society
Rating: 4/5
Belly dancing is another type of dance I’ve never tried before (besides dancing to Shakira’s Hips Don’t Lie in the Big O). It was a lot harder than I expected and there were a lot of moves that would take me a while to master such as the shimmy and Egyptian walk. It was fun to wear the colourful hip scarf and make percussion as I danced and being in the dance studio meant I could look at myself doing all of the moves. The society learns different choreographies and performs them at various events in Nottingham.
Cost and timetable:
● Membership is £5 and can be purchased at the SU Box Office or online.
● Beginners classes are 6-7pm on Fridays in the Dance Studio in Portland Building, they are £3.50 for members (£4.50 non-members).
● Choreography classes are £25 for an eight week course (members only), with classes 7-8pm on Fridays in the same place.
Shake your hips like Shakira and learn to belly dance
For more information and to become a member click here.
We tried out just a few of the societies at UoN, there are hundreds more across both campuses which accept and welcome new members all year round. It’s never too late to join something new and make some new friends in the process. There are events all semester round and some that you don’t even have to be a member for, keep checking the events page on the SU website for more details and to purchase all tickets .
Image sources
http://www.su.nottingham.ac.uk/societies/society/swing/
http://www.disney.co.uk/movies/frozen
http://www.su.nottingham.ac.uk/societies/society/bellydance/products/