Ballroom dancing has taken another giant step on the campus of UNC Wilmington. The Lumina Ballroom Dance Club competed in the third Annual Collegiate Dance Competition on April 7 in Chapel Hill, bringing in impressive results.

Led by their president, junior Dustin Williams and vice president senior Jeannie Tanguay, Lumina competed against such schools as Duke, North Carolina State, UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Georgia and UNC-Charlotte.

The competition, which was also open to beginners, included dances such as the foxtrot, waltz, tango, quickstep, salsa, cha-cha, merengue and mambo. In addition to the beginner’s level, there also included competition for intermediate dancers and amateur dancers.

Williams, along with English department member Patricia Aburahmeh, finished fourth in the swing competition.

“It was a very good experience as a dance club,” Aburahmeh said. “I had a great time competing.”

Tanguay, a native of Waterbury, Conn., finished first in the merengue competition along with Kristian Tamez. Tanguay, who has been an avid dancer most of her life, was thrilled to be a part of Lumina’s first try at competing against other schools.

“It was exciting for me, because it is my last year here, and we worked hard in organizing the club so we could start reaching our goals,” Tanguay said.

Lumina was started on campus in 1998. The ultimate goal of the club, besides teaching its members various dances, is to attend competitions. The club has seen rapid growth after a slow start. Lumina has grown not only with student members but also with community members, who the club allows to take part in their classes.

“I think it’s amazing we competed,” said English professor Paula Kamenish, who also is a member of Lumina. “It is good for UNCW to get noticed and to be seen outside of the Wilmington community.”

Tanguay said that Lumina usually begins classes by going over new dances, and the last hour is devoted to practicing those moves and dances learned in the previous weeks. In addition to their Sunday classes, which are held from 3-5 p.m. in the Warwick Center Ballroom, Lumina also holds monthly dances, which have seen increasing attendance in the past few months.

Next year, Lumina will take on a new format to enhance their competition chances. The club will start out as usual, with beginning lessons. In the second phase they will evaluate those student dancers with potential to compete, with the ultimate goal of letting those students teach the class by themselves. This idea has Tanguay excited about next year, even though she will graduate from the Cameron School of Business with a Marketing degree in May.

“I feel confident that this club will continue, and our goals will be met in the future,” Tanguay said.

Lumina classes are scheduled to restart in the fall on August 26.