UBC Dance Club

The International Ballroom Dance Club of UBC, est. 1949

Announcements

Congratulations to our new execs!

Thank you for coming out to our March AGM! Here are your execs for the 2024-25 school year:

President – Alisa Miriev
External Vice President – Lyra Fletcher
Internal Vice President – Bianca Hu
Gala Chairs – Iveel Yi and Alvin Young
Treasurer – Seva Miralimova
Social Coordinators – Stephanie Kostamo and Maddy Quong-Lee
Secretary – Maddie Cutts
IT Manager – Henry Rankin
Photographers – Melina Nastasi and Ilya Ghodousi
Graphics – Karen Zhao and Danica Parker
Bookings Representative – Alfred Effendi Gunawan
Sponsorship Coordinator – Angela Wang
Equipment Managers – Uku Feldman and Aidan Floyd
Swing Coordinator – Maddie Cutts

Join us for our Annual General Meeting!

Do you want to be more than a member of UBCDC? Do you want to receive free classes in exchange for organizing fun events and hanging out with cool people? Then become an exec!
Sign up using the link in our Instagram bio or here:
AGM Signup Link

Class Information

Newcomer: Newcomer classes are perfect for students who have never ballroom danced before! The class material will contain Newcomer and Pre-Bronze Latin and Standard figures.
The UBC Dance Club offers three newcomer classes a week, each taught by a different teacher. We encourage students to try out each class, and discover the differing teaching styles of each teacher!

Technique: Technique classes will go over Bronze level technique for both Standard and Latin. Improving your technique is a great way to get better as a dancer in general, regardless of whether you’re competing or not! Although the class content will be adjusted for class makeup, the first semester will be intended more for intermediate and advanced students, as it will be focusing on technique rather than learning the steps. The second semester will be catered towards preparing for the Gala Ball in March and will be more newcomer friendly.

Intermediate: Intermediate classes contain material with Bronze and Silver Latin and Standard figures. The content of the classes will be adjusted to the level of the dancers in the class, in order to aid those who are transitioning from Newcomer classes to Intermediate classes.

Advanced: The advanced class will offer routines in both Latin American and Ballroom. This class is structured for students who are already comfortable with Bronze and introductory Silver level steps.

Swing: Not sure which dance role to pick (lead/follow)? Then this class is for you! Everyone leads and everyone follows (ELEF) while learning classic Swing/Lindy Hop material which will prepare you for future classes and exploration of this dance in either a lead or follow role. This class is open to complete beginners as well as more experienced dancers who want to build foundations in their other role. CAUTION! Benefits of the ELEF learning environment may include, but are not limited to: an informed introduction to each role (why settle for just one?), maximizing the number of people that you can socialize and dance with at any given time, uncontrolled laughter, setting you up to learn switch dancing in the future, and many, many more. Having even a basic understanding of the foundations for both roles can help to clarify connection and improve your ability to communicate about and problem solve new moves for the rest of your dance journey!

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Instructors

Kyryl Dudchenko

Kyryl Dudchenko started dancing in Ukraine at the age of 7. He has undergone extensive training by many distinguished teachers and coaches in both the Latin American and Standard programs, as well as supplementary basic training in ballet. Kyryl competed in numerous DanceSport competitions all over Eastern and Western Europe as well as in North America, at first representing Ukraine and then Canada (in 2000). During his competitive career, he maintained the highest of amateur rankings and was featured on the Canadian national TV show, “Dancing at the Palais.” As an amateur, Kyryl competed for 13 years. In 2002, after being accepted to Simon Fraser University, Kyryl decided to become a professional dance instructor and taught while completing his undergraduate degree. Even upon completion of a degree in Criminology and Legal Studies in 2007, he decided to continue his career as a professional dance instructor, and has since been teaching and coaching competitors of all ages in both Latin and Standard programs.

For over 20 years, Kyryl has coached numerous students who have excelled in both the local and International DanceSport arena. He has taken his students to major Canadian and International competitions in Ohio, Toronto, Seattle, San Francisco, Palm Springs, Calgary and Victoria. He has trained and brought up dancers to become top BC Juvenile and Junior competitors, Adult BC Champions, as well as Junior Canadian Closed finalists. Kyryl’s Senior level students have also been achieving high rankings and respectable results throughout their competitions. Since 2005, Kyryl has been teaching at the UBC Dance Club. He teaches Newcomer, as well as Intermediate Level classes. Between 2007 and 2011 Kyryl taught at the Vancouver Academy of Dance, as a founder of the Ballroom Division. Kyryl is a qualified member of the Canadian DanceSport Federation. Besides coaching competitors, Kyryl has also been running social group classes of all levels, from Newcomer to Gold Star.

Joel Marasigan

We are proud to once again have Joel teaching our Tuesday Newcomer Plus Standard classes. He brings a deep understanding and experience to the club, which allows him to magically keep every class simple and fun while getting everyone dancing to a new level.

Apart from having a blast with UBC Dance Club students, he fills his time by co-running JC Dance Co with his wife Clara. JC Dance Co is one of Vancouver’s most popular dance companies, and is a regular continuation for many UBC Dance Club members looking for high quality competition training without stress or pressure. Many current and past UBC dancers have found great success being part of the JC Dance Co DanceSport Team.

His list of accomplishments is too long to mention here, but let’s just say he (with is wife Clara) is the highest ranked Adult Standard male dancer to come from BC in the past 50 years, with Undefeated BC Championship titles, and winner of Western Canadian, North American and World Championship gold medals. He has also danced and choreographed for movies and television shows.

Quite possibly one of Joel’s most notable facts is that he took his first dance steps here at the UBC Dance Club, just like the students he currently teaches. He still remembers the excitement of being a part of the UBC Dance Club (both as a student and as the club’s President), and therefore is thrilled to teach and inspire a new wave of student dancers.

Joel is currently offering discounts to all full time students for both his PEAK competition training sessions and private lessons at JC Dance Co. Please speak directly with Joel about these special offers.

Zillion Wong

Zillion began dancing at the age of 10 and has not stopped since. Born and raised on Vancouver Island, Zillion has become a well known international competitor in both International Style Standard and Latin dancing. He has travelled extensively to such countries as the United States, England, Belgium, Austria, and Russia to train and compete with the best in the world.

With his partner Sarah Liang, Zillion has had great success competing in Canada and internationally. Together, their achievements include:

Top 100 Finalist – So You Think You Can Dance Canada
6 time Undefeated BC Closed Standard Champions
5 time Undefeated BC Closed Latin Champions
6 time Canadian Closed Standard Championship Finalists
Vice-Champions in the Canadian Closed 10-Dance Championships

The UBC Dance Club has been an important part of Zillion’s life. During his Engineering undergraduate studies at UBC, he greatly enjoyed being in the club as an executive member for 5 years, and is honoured to have represented the club as the president for 2 of those years. Zillion looks forward to working with the club to share his knowledge and passion for Ballroom and Latin dance.

Murray Schellenberg

Murray started dancing at the University of Alberta Dance Club in 1986. He did his initial professional training in Montreal and turned pro in 1991. He taught with the UVic Dance Club and with the Victoria Ballroom Dance Society until 2000, when he moved to Vancouver. Here, he taught with the UBC Dance Club and Not So Strictly Ballroom until 2012. Murray competed at the professional level with his partner Dianne Gallagher in the late 90s and has worked as a judge, scrutineer and Master of Ceremonies for many competitions. After a year in Rochester, NY, he is thrilled to be back in Vancouver.

Laura and Simon

Laura began social lindy hopping in 2008 and Simon followed a couple years later in 2010. They were immediately hooked! Over the years Lindy Hop became a source of friendship, travel, continuous learning, new people, music, exercise, and creative expression. Eventually, they started teaching together at UBC in 2016 for the UBC Swing Kids, and since 2022 with the UBC Dance Club. Simon and Laura take an approach to teaching that asks students to simultaneously learn both lead and follow partnering roles (ELEF). To them, learning only to follow or lead is akin to only learning to speak a language without learning to comprehend it. They also feel that learning both roles is important for both effectively learning how to dance Lindy Hop, but also to have the opportunity to experience both roles before deciding if you wish to specialize in one or the other (or both). And of course, whatever you learn in class, the role you choose to dance on the social floor is up to you! Simon and Laura are looking forward to dancing with each of you, in any or both roles. They hope to challenge your brain, dance with every single person in class, and have lots of fun exploring this rich dance rooted in Black American culture.