UNR’s Latin Dance Club Trying to Keep the Groove Despite COVID-19

Andrew Gardner reports on a decrease in members and attendance, as UNR’s Latin Dance club tries to keep going during a pandemic.

Members of the Latin Dance club wait at a distance of eight to 10 feet from each other, to receive instructions. Footwork is the only thing the club can work on due to the pandemic.

From Safely Distanced In-Person Back to Zoom

With the COVID-19 pandemic persisting across the globe, shutting down businesses, closing schools, and causing people to keep their distance, the Latin Dance Club at the University of Nevada, Reno, has had to find new ways to keep existing.

It was created at UNR seven years ago, to teach students Latin dances “in a bully-free zone” to work on footwork and dance skills. The dance club has 25 active members and teaches Bachata, Merengue, Cha-Cha, and two forms of Salsa.

With UNR now going back to all remote learning after the Thanksgiving break, the Latin Dance Club is up in the air to when they will return to their own in-person classes, so for now, the club will meet on Zoom.

“ I guess one advantage of having to move online is we can advance footwork and can move on faster,” said Constance Chan, the president of the Latin Dance Club.

Before the news of the school closing again late in the semester, the Latin Dance Club was able to have some in-person meetings, with Covid-19 precautions in mind. The club would meet with mandatory masks.

The Value of a Club Slipping Away

“ Latin dance club has changed my college experience for the better,” said the club’s treasurer Christina Torres, feeling other students may be missing out.

“ It’s been great, it was the first club I joined as a freshman. It has become my own life, as it is a nice open space for you to just be yourself. [It] helps bring people together through dancing fun. Who doesn’t love just having fun as a stress reliever? When I found the Latin Dance club my freshman year, I made friends that loved to dance to which was a plus in my book because I came from out of state not knowing many people,” Torres said.

“ We don’t have a lot of attendance, not a lot of people are coming back to the club, and the atmosphere is very different,” Chan said of continuing the club during the pandemic, with the new impending closure. At a recent Zoom, Chan was the only one attending, but hoped he would find a way to revive the groove, whatever the challenges.

Reporting by Andrew Gardner for the Reynolds Sandbox