Lot's Wife Edition 5 2015

ARTS & CULTURE 45
By CARINA
FLOREA
"MDS is freedom:
the freedom to dance, to
express, to enjoy, to forget."
When Monash University was established in 1958, Monash
Dance Sport, formerly known as the Monash Ballroom
Dancing Society, soon followed with its formation in 1965.
Originally offering styles such as ballroom, latin and new
vogue, the club grew and in 1999, split from Monash Clubs &
Societies and joined Monash Sport. MDS currently offer latin
and standard, street latin, swing, new vogue, theatrical and
hip-hop/urban dance styles and regularly host dance nights.
But if you ask any current or past member of MDS, they’ll tell
you that the club offers so much more than what’s shown on
their website. When asked to describe MDS, Amaris Lee said
that "MDS is freedom: the freedom to dance, to express, to
enjoy, to forget."
As one of the oldest and largest clubs on campus, MDS
recently celebrated their 50th year at Monash. After many
months of hard work, the current MDS committee organised
an event that gathered past and current members for a
night of dancing, swapping stories and catching up with
old friends. While some had left the club 10 to 15 years ago,
there were others who could recall what it was like from
the beginning. However, as the night progressed, it became
apparent that while some things had changed, other things
remained the same.
Be it 1970 or 2001, it seemed like shy engineering boys
continued to join the club in a bid to meet girls and countless
sexual innuendos ("Ahhh that’s why it felt weird... I was
using the wrong hand!") were created during the many
hours students dedicated to learning dance moves. Even the
rehearsal room remained the same throughout the years.
According to Beatrice Greaves, a committee member during
the early years of the club, the campus centre banquet hall
hasn’t changed in the 50 years the club has operated.
What also survived the years was the joy and passion
elicited from being a part of MDS. Vatsal Kumar, a current
committee member, describes MDS as his "family where
people from different cultural backgrounds and different
faculties get together and share their love for dancing," while
Benjamin Ho says MDS is "something of a home to us all."
This feeling of belonging and acceptance appeared to be
unanimous. It seemed like everyone had a story from their
time at MDS that ended in some form of praise or love for the
club with many stories ending with... "and that’s how I found
my wife/husband!"
Regardless of where you are in your studies at Monash,
MDS welcomes all types of individuals regardless of previous
dancing experience with classes available in varied skill
levels. However, some might say a great deal of courage
and patience is also required in order to take the step and
join. Randy Thanh Du joined MDS in his first year at Monash
and says he recalls thinking that "MDS was one of the more
obscure and unsettlingly difficult clubs to consider joining,
especially compared to the more first year orientated clubs,"
yet like many before him, he stepped out of his comfort zone
and in turn, discovered the hidden gem that is Monash Dance
Sport.
Current president Bilin Zhou says the 50th anniversary
was a "fantastic way to mark how far we’ve come throughout
these years" as past and current members bonded over
their love of dance. And as the club looks back at its long
and fulfilling past, it is clear that a legacy of acceptance and
family has been built by generations of students who were
courageous enough to step out of their comfort zone and into
some dance shoes and this tradition shall keep going strong
as the club progresses into the future.