Co-Captain: Cassie Colmenares
Cassie comes from Illinois, land of corn and the tremendous El train. She’s a senior studying biology and various other STEMmy things (only time will tell what she’ll end up minoring in), and is also an espresso apprentice, sudoku scholar, and an avid writer of gothic fiction. She joined the team in her first week of her freshman year in an effort to learn how to dance. After three years of learning the ropes, she has solidified herself as a Standard enthusiast, and loves exploring the wider collegiate ballroom sphere through competition.
Co-Captain: Lenka Smiljanic
Lenka is a sophomore from Belgrade, Serbia studying architecture and environmental studies. She joined the team at the beginning of her freshman year and immediately regained her love for ballroom after a three year long break she took from dancing before coming to college. Though she does not like to admit to having favourites, Latin dances do make her eyes sparkle just a little bit more (for her, nothing can beat a good samba). When not dancing and frantically trying to learn every new team members’ name, she can be found drinking milk tea, with friends pretending to work, or at one of the I-club events.
Social Dance Coordinator: Sophia Carney
Sophia is a junior from MA studying computer science. Before coming to college, she was a figure skater starting at the age of four. The parent weekend ballroom show piqued Sophia’s interest in partner dancing, and after going to one of the social hours, she was hooked. Sophia enjoys all of the styles, but specializes in Rhythm and Latin herself. The occasional Viennese Waltz will emerge when she’s in a particularly dizzy mood. When not dancing, catch Sophia in the JCC, her second home, or in Dewick (CS upperclassmen, am I right?).
Social Events Chair: Anna Bonitatibus
Anna is a sophomore from Maryland studying biology. Although she has been dancing her whole life, she only got introduced into the wonderful sparkly world of ballroom her freshman year when she decided to try something new and join the team. Despite the newness of everything, she quickly fell in love with the ballroom community. Now she enjoys learning every style, but has fallen in love with the rhythm and latin styles, especially swing, cha-cha, and jive. When she is not dancing, you can find her playing the flute, reading, or wandering around looking for new things to do.
Showdance Director: Della Noon
Della is a sophomore from northeast PA studying biology on the pre-vet track. She joined the team at the end of her freshman fall after attending Tufts Comp and falling in love with the dresses first (of course), followed by the dancing. She has a passion for rhythm and latin, especially Cha. You may find her around campus drinking more coffee than her heart can handle, pounding out a lab report in Kindlevan, or procrastinating by watching a Studio Ghibli movie.
Treasurer: Dae Nath
Dae is a sophomore from North Dakota (yes it’s a real place) studying Cognitive & Brain Sciences on the pre-med track. He joined the team in the beginning of freshman year to live out his dark fantasy prince dreams and fell in love with the people and atmosphere of Ballroom. Waltz and Viennese Waltz have their heart, but they’re also partial to a good Jive and Hustle. If you manage to catch a rare glimpse of him outside, he’ll probably be reading, crocheting, crafting, at taekwondo practice, or just photosynthesizing in the sunlight like a cat.
Competition Coordinator: Alejandro Forero Rey
Alejandro is from Colombia but grew up in Saudi Arabia. He is a current junior at Tufts and is studying International Relations and Economics. He joined ballroom because he reminisces of his childhood filled with Just Dance on the wii. Now he enjoys dancing swing and rumba, all while slicking his hair back on the dance floor. Besides dancing, he likes to explore cities, go café-hopping, and read a good book underneath a shaded tree.
Junior Competition Coordinator: Eli Newman
Eli is a sophomore from New York studying math and computer science. He had never danced before ballroom, and he joined the team on a whim. He found that he enjoyed dancing and really liked spending time with the people on the team. He likes all of the different styles of ballroom, but the flowy styles of Smooth/Standard are his favorites. When not in ballroom, you will most likely find him in the JCC, huddled in a nice quiet corner studying math or reading a book (or maybe banging his head against a wall over a CS assignment).
Outreach Chair: Lorelei Martin
Lorelei is a sophomore from Oregon studying some kind of as-of-yet undetermined liberal arts, and also studio art at SMFA. Though lacking any dancing experience, they had previously enjoyed more artistic-type sports, so were eager to give ballroom a try. They had a lot of fun meeting new people and trying to learn how to dance (they’re still working on it). They believe that the faster the dance is, the better; shout-out to jive! When not dancing, they can often be found falling asleep on the SMFA bus in the morning and drinking a latte in the afternoon.
