Dance Club Meeting on Magical Arts Room and Sports

Virginia Bellrose

September 05, 2014 6:36 PM

Dance Club Meeting by Virginia Bellrose

Ginny was, at first, hesitant about starting up the Dance Club again. She hadn’t done it last year because of the missing staff members the first half of the year as well as all the classwork that came during the second half once the staff had returned. There had just been so much on her plate last year that the idea of dancing with other people exhausted her. So, she only danced on her own time just as her friends played Quidditch on their own time. This year was stressful, but in a different way. This year she would be taking her CATS exams and she had her Prefect duties to deal with. Already, she felt like she was drowning in homework, class projects, and essay writing.

However, this year was also the ball. And that meant that people might be looking to find people to dance with or learn how to dance in general. This would be the year to gain some recruitments. Ginny, herself, knew how to ballroom dance, but she didn’t do it very often. She was pretty sure it was the etiquette training for all Pureblood Witches and Wizards. But, that didn’t mean she couldn’t brush up on it. Not that she would have a date to go with for it to matter. People at this school didn’t really see her. They saw girls like Effie Arbon. She supposed she could ask Adam to go with her, he was a good guy who would go if she asked unless he already promised someone else, but Ginny didn’t want to make him feel obligated especially if he had someone else in mind to ask. Plus, what if Francesca didn’t get a date? Ginny would feel terrible. Maybe she should just talk to the two of them and see what they wanted to do about the Ball. Would it be weird if the three of them went together?

Deciding to worry about it later (like much of everything else), Ginny stood in the middle of the dance room in MARS with black dance bottoms and a pink top. Her long brown hair was pulled loosely back into a braid and her ballet shoes were draped over one shoulder. She had placed notices around the school regarding the resurrection of the Dance Club with statements like ‘Join for Fun’ or ‘If you want to learn (especially for the Ball), this is the place to do it!’ and ‘Males are welcomed!’ because she felt that it might draw more people in and she wanted to have a more equal number of genders (although, she would not hold her breath for that). Now that it was meeting day, she had no idea if anyone was really interested.

When the door opened and some people joined her, Ginny gave a bright smile and greeted them warmly. “Hello! Welcome to The Dance Club.” She started when it seemed like there would be no one else coming. “We have refreshments in the back if anyone would like some. My name is Virginia Bellrose, Crotalus 5th Year. Or just Ginny to most people. I’ve studied Ballet for most of my life and took up Contemporary a couple of years ago as well as Tap last year.” She told everyone, giving them a lowdown of her skills. “Like probably most of you, I also had Ballroom training, but I didn’t think it was nearly as fun. Some of you might be here to learn to dance for the Ball and I’m sure some of you are here just because you like dancing, so I’m hoping that we can mix together these reasons and have fun with it. What do you all think? Is there anything in particular that anyone is hoping for?”

Subthreads:

Dancing shoes - check. by Adam Spencer

6 Virginia Bellrose Dance Club Meeting 0 Virginia Bellrose 1 5

Adam Spencer

September 06, 2014 5:02 PM

Dancing shoes - check. by Adam Spencer

Despite the responsibilities Adam had on his plate this year, forgoing the Dance Club was impossible in his mind. One of his best friends was the head of the club and going to support her was important to him. She had come to his and Francesca's Quidditch matches in past years and it was only fair that he support her in this. Dance Club was also the perfect opportunity to brush up on his dancing skills. He was not particularly graceful in any other dance form, a fact Ginny would know by now after his participation in years prior.

Adam expected more people than usual to join the Dance Club with the approaching ball, but when he entered the MARS room he didn't see his cousins or his sister. He should have badgered his cousin into coming today, but it was too late now. "Hi Ginny," he said with a smile. "Glad to see Dance Club is back on." He wanted to ask if she was doing all right juggling so many responsibilities, but he didn't want to commandeer her time too early in the meeting when there were other members and first-time students to welcome. He took a seat after a quick chat and smiled at other members who caught his eye.

After last year, Adam was glad for some normalcy in the year. It had been very boring with no professors or clubs to attend whilst they were trapped on the school grounds. He was glad to see that parents still sent their children to Sonora as well despite all that had happened here.

The meeting began and Adam observed the others in the club, wondering how many of them had previous ballroom training. He turned his eyes back to Ginny and thought of a dance he had wanted to practise. The waltz and foxtrot were easy enough to pick up and forms Adam had mastered over the years. A fun and slightly more challenging dance would make things interesting. He had always been intrigued by the less 'elegant' dance forms, deemed so by his mother and etiquette tutor, and he decided to speak up. "Can we learn how to tango or jive? The music for both dances is always so lively, but I've never learnt how to dance to it." Neither dance form was particularly practical for the Midsummer Ball, but at least it would be fun to learn.

40 Adam Spencer Dancing shoes - check. 257 Adam Spencer 0 5

Emery and Chloe Jareau

September 07, 2014 9:39 AM

Suggestions - check. by Emery and Chloe Jareau

Because Chloe had forced Emery to go to the Archery club with her (and really, it was their parents that ‘forced’ him to go, not her!), Emery was making Chloe go to the Dance club. Chloe’s roommate was the one who enjoyed dancing (although, admittedly, Chloe enjoyed watching Ji-Eun practice some of those KPOP moves), but Chloe was not coordinated enough herself to really understand how to dance properly. Emery actually could dance. Their mother used to throw dance parties when she was home on the weekends from work and Emery and her would dance together (before Jeff and Chloe moved in and it became a group thing). It was something that they did together. But Emery said that since there was a ball happening this year, if he had to ask someone, he wanted to make sure he could actually dance properly. But, of course, he didn’t want to show up to the meeting by himself. He had a difficult time with the book club and that did have a couple of males in it, but he was sure the dance club would be overrun with girls and girls apparently gave her brother anxiety.

Reluctantly (at least, she pretended to go reluctantly, she wouldn’t mind actually learning something), Chloe agreed to go with him and met him at the hall. “If you’re doing this for the Ball, does that mean you are going with someone?” Chloe asked her brother.

“No, not really.” Emery commented with a shrug. “I mean, I haven’t asked anyone. I don’t really have anyone to ask.” He advised. This amused Chloe since there were so many girls in their school who would probably jump at the chance of being asked. “I thought maybe Ava, but I don’t know. She said she’d probably just go as friends and I am not sure I want my first rejection by at Fourteen.”

Chloe liked Ava, she had given her fudge. Fudge is delicious (not that she ate it often, preferring vanilla to chocolate, but Chloe will never say ‘no’ to food or sweets). “Why would she say no? It’s not like every girl here can be that choosey with a date.” Chloe asked her brother. Again, he shrugged.

“I mentioned Dimitri probably asking her and me not really having anyone to ask. I mean, there are girls I could ask, but ninety percent of this school is Pure and I’m not, so they aren’t going to be seen with me.” He explained. Chloe had to admit, that was probably the case. She thought maybe of seeing if Malcolm would want to go with her. He was the only guy she spoke with regularly and enjoyed their conversations, but Malcolm was a Carey and Chloe was a Jareau. The Jareau name was Pureblood, but the family was not prominent (from what her father said) and her father had been disowned. She didn’t think Malcolm would do anything that would shame his family (if going to a dance would ‘shame’ them in some way). “She said she wouldn’t let her friends go alone, so she would prefer a group date. So, I guess that’s better than nothing and if we go as a group, I’d still like to dance.”

“Do you like her?” Chloe asked, rather suddenly. Emery didn’t say anything at first and she knew that he was thinking his answer over carefully. Either he was worried about revealing a secret or he was still trying to figure out the answer himself. “If it helps, I kind of like Malcolm Carey.” Emery gave her a surprised look. It was her turn to shrug. “Not like, I’m deeply in love with him, or anything like that. I just like hanging out with him. But, he’s a Carey, so that’s that.” She gave a smile and a ‘what can you do’ gesture that Emery had to agree with.

“I think I do like her. I don’t really know what makes her special, but I like being around her.” Emery admitted. Chloe grinned. She would never use this knowledge against her brother, but she could start nudging the two of them together, subtly of course.

They arrived to the MARS room and found a place to sit. Both felt that this would be the time to join and it was probable that others felt that way too. Their Hostess seemed to have some knowledge in certain dances, so that was cool, but Chloe thought that most Purebloods were trained in some various forms of dance. When the question was posed and Adam Spencer (Malcolm’s rival for the badge he didn’t care to have) gave a couple, Chloe also spoke up, “Can we have a day of like, Line Dancing?” She asked. “Our parents sometimes take us to this family restaurant close to where we live where we can line dance. It’s really fun.”

6 Emery and Chloe Jareau Suggestions - check. 0 Emery and Chloe Jareau 0 5

Julian Umland

September 18, 2014 3:10 PM

Joining in. by Julian Umland

In theory, if maybe three things had happened differently, Julian might have already known how to dance. She had gathered that most pureblood girls learned at least enough to not make fools of themselves at balls whether they had any natural talent for it or not, and as bizarre as it still was to consider (she had grown up four minutes from a Wal-Mart, and no more than ten from any of the almost-equally non-magical institutions – church, library, coffee shops, dentists – her family used on a regular basis; her whole world was within walking distance when she was at home, so much so that she wasn’t even sure her mom, who rarely left the neighborhood and almost never did so without the whole family in tow, had even bothered to keep up her Apparition license), theirs was a category she arguably belonged to. She wasn’t sure to what extent being illegitimate would have affected her social status if Richard had decided to raise her, but both of her biological parents came from all-magical families, and Richard's, though not that big of a deal, was not altogether without influence back home. She had heard of some of her relatives before Sallie had told her they were her relatives; Dad thought her some-manner-of-cousin Hermogenes was an idiot for the goblin relations laws he had dreamed up and tried to get passed last year. Julian didn’t know enough about banking to know what she thought of the laws, but she did have some opinions about the fact that she shared genes with someone who’d thought it was a good idea to name his kid Hermogenes.

The names were one part of that sort of background, a particularly old-fashioned sort of wizarding family one, Julian did not think would have suited her at all – though truthfully, she wasn’t that far removed from it, she guessed. Etiquette, too, was a thing she thought Mom might have taught her and her brothers a little more of than kids of their age and station in their neighborhood really needed. Julian thought she in particular had had it rough in that way, since she’d spent a lot of time as the guinea pig on which her brothers practiced the art of How To Treat A Nice Young Lady In Public, who was also supposed to basically show them what traits they should look for in someone good enough to consider bringing into the family someday. If she’d had a sister to compete with, Julian half-wondered if she might not have ended up rather prissy. Dancing and gossiping were really the only areas she had ever heard that girls of a certain type were supposed to excel at that she thought she was utterly deficient in, and neither had ever seemed very interesting to her – until now. Gossip was still up in the air, but dancing had become a necessity since she became a prefect.

Well, sort of. Her partner was almost certainly going to be either Charlie or John (she hoped for the former, but could twist her brother’s arm harder in a pinch since he had to put up with her for the rest of his life, and he was nearly as tall as her already, so he’d do if the only other option was wandering in circles like an idiot), so she didn’t really have to worry about impressing anyone, but she did think it would be better if she made at least some effort to learn what she was doing. When Ginny’s Dance Club signs mentioned the ball specifically, then, she decided to give it a try.

The specific mention of most of them already having ballroom dancing lessons was not encouraging, but the problem of the school dance was acknowledged, so Julian guessed she would get what she had come for and some extra. Not that that was a bad thing. If they met often and energetically enough, she might even lose some weight before the Ball…though admittedly, giving up her habit of eating chocolate when she did CATS review or tried to master an especially difficult concept would probably help with that, too. That, though, seemed outside the realm of the possible. She would just have to hope for the best with dancing, if she could refrain from breaking her neck long enough….

Besides, she thought it might be fun just to do something with mostly other girls. She didn’t expect to really make good friends (most of the girls were probably, if she had to guess, like Ginny, nice enough but pureblood, and whatever she technically was or wasn’t, she wasn’t going to start announcing to girls at school that she was part of their other club, not when she hadn’t even told her best friend about it all and still couldn’t talk comfortably about it with her own family), but even more and closer female acquaintances might be….nice. She had spent her whole life surrounded by guys, but…well, however well she had played with her brothers when she was little, however much she loved them and her dad, she wasn’t a guy, and her mom, the only other female in the family, just wasn’t the same sort of – woman or girl or whatever – that she was. Mom was so cerebrally-oriented that sometimes she felt like she was from another planet; she didn’t do normal conversations, she was almost compelled to relate them to thirteenth-century treatises and the like, and she took everything so seriously, thought everything was so important….

Julian shook her head a little and listened as the others started listing things they’d like to learn. “I’m a Ball case,” she admitted, smiling awkwardly, when it was her turn. “I’ll try anything, though.” Or else vanish if it turned out everyone in the room was ridiculously more advanced than she was, but she wasn’t going to say that out loud, just do it if it turned out she needed to.

16 Julian Umland Joining in. 254 Julian Umland 0 5

Keme RunningBear

September 28, 2014 1:53 PM

Just here. by Keme RunningBear

Keme had joined the dance club a couple of terms ago for the sake of meeting people. He had enjoyed just regular dancing that people did at parties and he liked to watch the ceremonial dances that his tribe did, but that was about all he had ever done. He hadn't minded the dance club simply because no one seemed to judge him on this fact and he was still able to be a part of something. He had also joined the fencing club that year, but that was no longer around. He had his own club thi syear, or at least, some interest in it, so he would take that into consideration too for meeting people. His parents would be quite pleased that he was trying.

He still saw himself as different from others, not just because he was Native, but simply because his way of life was different. He was as Pure as the Purest family, but they did not have all the same beliefs as other traditional Purebloods. His tribe worked closely with Muggles. They traded with others outside their lands. It was how, centuries ago, they had been able to survive and how they prospered now. But he was aware such a thing was frowned upon. Although it was rare for someone of his Tribe to marry outside of it, it did happen and, on occasion, it was with a Muggle. In a traditional society, the Pureblood would be shunned, in his society, it was merely frowned upon. Those that married a Muggle lived outside of the tribe. Those of ‘royal’ blood, like Keme, were not allowed and would be turned away from if they did marry a Muggle. The blood of the future Chiefs of the land must remain Pure.

But all of that was another matter. Something he would worry about after Sonora when marriage was necessary. It was just something that he knew made him different. At least he was trying to break out a bit and make some attachments. Hence why he was here at this new meeting for the Dance Club.

He listened to what Ginny had to say and what the others offered up. He wasn’t too sure about doing the tango or jive (he would need a partner for both and he wasn’t entirely sure he would manage to find one), but line dancing was something he had done before. Keme smiled quietly to himself when Julian admitted to being there for the ball. He was also sort of here to learn that stuff even if he never managed to work up the nerve to ask anyone. He didn’t have any suggestions to give and he certainly didn’t want to say that he was only here to be with people, so he kept himself quiet, sitting in the corner sipping on some juice.

6 Keme RunningBear Just here. 249 Keme RunningBear 0 5

Joella Curtis

October 04, 2014 3:25 PM

Commitments. by Joella Curtis

The fact that she had only just started out at Sonora Academy did not seem to discourage Joella from joining just about everything available. It was true that part of this was related to the first year's idea that clubs would be the perfect place to make friends. However, Joella had also found that there was so much going on at Sonora that simply caught her eye. At the beginning, she had assumed that Quidditch would be her one and only focus, whether or not she managed to get on the team. But now that was evidently not going to be the case. Of course, there was the question as to whether it was a good idea to make so many commitments so early on in her first year but in truth, Joella wasn't really the type of girl to worry about things like that. If she found out that she had too much on her plate, she would figure out a solution then and there but never before it actually happened.

Joella's childhood had been infused with training in ballroom dancing and the like, something that seemed to be for some reason mandatory in traditional Pureblood families such as her own. However, when she was particularly young she had sometimes escaped these much dreaded lessons to partake in something she considered much more interesting. Although her parents were anxious for her not to be a complete social embarrassment, the young Pecari somehow managed to skip a lot of the "etiquette training" that her elder siblings had to face. It seemed that Joella's parents had begun to give up by the time it came to her. Still, Joella was not incompetent and could perform the necessary steps to several forms of formal paired dances.

Once a little older, Joella came to realize that dancing could be fun. A fact that she learnt through her older sister, Rolene. So when the first year saw a notice regarding a Dance Club she made plans to go along the first meeting.

When Virginia Bellrose asked the group of potential "dancers" if they had anything in particular in mind to learn, Joella's mind seemed to go blank and she so badly wished she had thought of this before. What did she want to learn? To be honest, Joella believed she'd be happy doing pretty much anything. Even ballroom. And when the subject of the Ball was mentioned it occurred to her that brushing up on this might not be too bad of an idea.

When one girl requested a day of line dancing Joella couldn't help but grin. Back in Tennessee she had partaken in a fair amount of line dances - it seemed a popular party pastime among her extended family and other local friends. The thought of it brought many happy laughter-filled memories to Joella's mind and she decided to make line dancing a second request. "I love the idea of doing some line dancing," she piped up.

8 Joella Curtis Commitments. 295 Joella Curtis 0 5