I’m sure you’ve probably already heard of the Dance Society but, for those who haven’t, you came to the right place to find out more about it! Her Campus interviewed 26 year-old Clare Gardner, the current president of City Dance Society, and got her talking about her interest in dancing.
This Law degree student spreads her enthusiasm across media and entertainment, photography, film-making and writing. Nevertheless, her absolute passion remains dancing. Here’s the proof!
So Clare, tell me how you have come to create the Dance Society in the first place? When I came to City, I longed to continue dancing, so I sought to fill the void of dance on campus. The first week of school I rallied support and submitted a petition to the Student Union to urgently create a dance society, which is how I successfully founded the City Dance Soc. Magic happened when I met two other students with my same passion – Jacqueline Fernandez, a salsa aficionado, and Quincy Quartey, a street dancer. Together we made a great team. After overcoming many obstacles, in January 2014, The City Dance Society was up and running with free-for-all classes every Friday. It owes its creation to the eagerness of the dancers who stuck it out with us that first year all the way to our first election while we were still setting a foundation for the society and changing our dance space for what felt like each week. The unmoving support of those dancers helped the SU realised that the dance society was one to be prioritised.
What does the society offer to students at City? This year the Dance Society continues to offer ballet, salsa, and street dance classes to its members, plus we have added contemporary-lyrical dance and more styles of street dance, such as waacking and freestyle. Classes are taught by student teachers and at the heart of the society is the goal to open up the world of dance to the entire school. The City Dance Society is made up of an extremely diverse crowd – from break-dancers to ballerinas and from beginners to people with a lot of experience. But our shared desire to dance, feel good, and express ourselves unites us and makes the society feel strong.
That’s great to hear! But as president of the society, what are your plans for it and what would you like to do more? Performance! This year we intend to do a lot of performances on and off campus. In addition to pub night performances and flash-mobs, there are plans for a competitive team so that City Dancers can challenge themselves and grow further.
Did the society help you enjoy your time at City better? How so? The Dance Society has given me a strong sense of belonging on campus plus it has been the perfect way to meet quirky people like me.
On a more personal note, how does your passion for dancing affect your life? Does it help in your creative self-expression? Absolutely. Dance has given me an awareness of body language, which is extremely important when it comes to communication, and which I use in everyday life. Dance has also given me great confidence, useful for public speaking – and as an aspiring lawyer, one day I hope to bring this confidence to the courtroom.
Why do you think people should dance more? (besides, you know, it’s so much fun!) I’ve found dance to be an important outlet for stress that can build up from school and life. Dance is the perfect way to let loose, learn something cool, and sweat out all the bad stuff! Dance is proven to improve both technical and abstract thinking and it is one of the best forms of exercise.
It seems like you spend most of your time dancing, but can you share with us any other passion or interests you have? I enjoy creating documentaries, photography, cooking breakfast, writing and reading novels. I also like listening to music; I love Joy Division and the band Blind Melon. And I love coffee! It’s actually an obsession.