Dancers and non-dancers alike are welcome at the Physical Education Building tonight for dance lessons, and to raise money for cancer research.
The University of Idaho Ballroom Team is hosting its first ever dance in support of Relay for Life. The cost to enter is a minimum $3 donation at the door.
Team captain Anna Hein organized the event and said she wants people to give dancing a shot.
“I am hoping that we get more people to come out and just see how much fun dancing really is,” Hein said. “It doesn’t have to happen in a bar or a club, it can just be at your college for $3.”
The dance begins at 6:30 p.m. with a half-hour lesson and participants will have the option to practice their new skills until 9 p.m. in PEB Gym 111.
Hein said to expect anything from Latin to swing dancing.
Anyone wearing purple to the event will receive a free raffle ticket for a door prize that is a “gift basket full of goodies.”
Hein said attire is up to the participants, as she expects anything from casual blue jeans to formal gowns.
Ballroom team coach Paul Hanes said the event is not just about dancing — all donations go toward Relay for Life, and he said the dance will help the team bond.
“Having the fundraiser for some cause other than our own team is a really good way to bring everybody together because all of us working towards some other common goal that doesn’t necessarily affect us.” Hanes said.
Hein said when she first started looking into the idea she wanted to do it because it sounded like fun. She said, as she continued to research, her reasoning changed.
“The more I found out about it — how much they do for patients with cancer, families of patients with cancer and survivors … I think it’s just a really great cause for something that’s touched pretty much everyone’s lives,” she said.
The next Relay for Life event at the University of Idaho will be held April 6 in the Kibbie Dome.