For those who have long aspired to command an audience on every dance floor, your number has just been called.

“Saint Louis University is one of 400 colleges selected for initiation of student extra-curricular Ballroom Dancing Clubs during this school year,” the Youth College Network announced in a press release from Oct. 26.

The YCN is a nationwide network of college dance clubs that is a vision of the United States Amateur Ballroom Dancers Association, which is the nonprofit charitable and educational organization.

The USABDA is recognized by the United States Olympic Committee as the National Governing Body for DanceSport and amateur ballroom dancing in the United States.

As the newest Olympic-recognized sport, DanceSport is achieving unprecedented commercial success, along with an increase in popularity. Just some of the universities and colleges with which SLU would be competing in the YCN are Harvard, Yale, MIT, Notre Dame, Stanford and Princeton.

This Ballroom Dancing Club will provide the student body with dance lessons, social dances and various opportunities to participate in DanceSport competitions.

There will also be a special emphasis on helping beginners acquire the necessary skills to excel in the club, so experience is not necessary.

“I think it’s great because it adds even more clubs to our school, which produces more diversity. This might be something some people would really enjoy,” said senior Lisa Bausano. Bausano is familiar with ballroom dancing from a high school course.

Though this is a new opportunity for SLU students, some think that other kinds of dancing would also be a nice addition to student life. “I think other forms of dancing should be offered too, like swing dancing,” said junior Jess Lenzen.

“I agree with Jess, because SLU would be even more diverse if other types of dancing were available to the students,” Bausano.

For more information on ballroom dancing, DanceSport and to get links to clubs at other colleges and universities, the YCN encourages students to visit the Youth and College Dancing Web site, www.usabda.org.

Students interested in helping to organize a ballroom dancing club at SLU should e-mail their name, mailing address and phone number to [email protected].

Mary Kwapiszeski, a senior in the physical therapy program, also took ballroom dance as a course in high school.

“In my experience, ballroom dancing has been nothing but fun,” Kwapiszeski said. “Those who are interested should definitely go out and give it a try.”