Festive salsa rhythms of trumpets, maracas, and bongos resonated throughout the brightly lit Clark Hall dance studio on an otherwise typical, gray, freezing Monday night. As the wind howled and snowflakes swirled outside, 25 students coupled off in pairs and danced face-to-face, swaying their hips and shuffling their feet. They darted glances at their class instructors, Will Schenk and Andrea Ortiz, as they demonstrated the basic forward and back instructions of a traditional salsa dance. From a first glimpse, this class resembled a Latin dance class offered through the UB athletics department.
But wait, take another look. Schenk and Ortiz are ordinary UB students, not paid faculty members. Instead of a big stereo system, the music blasts from a slim, black video iPod and a speaker dock situated on a wooden table in the corner of the room. This salsa class is neither a UB course nor a Life and Learning workshop, but one of the weekly classes of Impulse Dance Force, a Student Association club providing free dance lessons to anyone with—or without—a sense of rhythm.
The Impulse Dance Force, founded by Samantha Sorrentino and Jaime Scheff in the fall of 2004, provides students with a slew of free dance classes teaching styles such as salsa, hip-hop, modern, pointe, ballet, belly dancing, swing, jazz, pop, contemporary modern, and tap.
The club distinguishes itself from other dance organizations on campus because of their inclusive attitude—other clubs focus mainly on one area of dance. There are no auditions required to become a member. Also, Impulse functions as a free dance studio, where students teach students how to dance. The classes are offered at three different levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. A one-hour, once a week class is devoted to each dance genre. Students are encouraged to attend as many classes as they can, and there is no commitment involved if you’re simply a beginner interested in acquiring some new dance moves.
Students craving the opportunity to perform on stage without auditioning for the highly selective competition team can practice and showcase their moves in the group’s end of the semester dance show. Classes transform into rigorous practices mid-semester for the performance finalé. The show is comprised of choreographed routines from different dance classes within Impulse Dance Force. The instructor of each class choreographs a dance routine, and students who are interested in performing practice the routine throughout the semester. The different dances are combined to produce one polished, crowd-pleasing show.
Senior Dana Pelligrino, an Impulse member for three years, fondly describes how her participation in a hip-hop dance routine for last year’s end of semester show was one of her most memorable moments at UB. “I got such a huge adrenaline rush from performing, it was amazing,” she said. This semester, Pelligrino decided to switch from hip-hop to salsa classes. “You’re not limited to just one type of dance,” Pelligrino said, “You have the option of switching it up each semester.”
Students Teaching Students
Jackie Stern, sophomore UB student and current instructor for Impulse’s pop classes, has been involved with the club since her freshman year, in addition to choreographing for Impulse for a year. Since the age of three, she has been enrolled in professional dance studio classes and performing in front of large crowds in various statewide competitions.
Stern’s confidence in her teaching and dancing capabilities exuded through a personally choreographed dance routine she taught to her students Tuesday night at her pop class dance session in Clark Hall. “Drop it down to the left, drop it down to the right,” Stern instructed, as she hung her arms loosely from side to side and moved her feet to the heavy bass lines and guitar riffs of Red Hot Chili Pepper’s “Higher Ground” playing on the small portable stereo. This dance sequence is one of the many routines which will be showcased at the end of the semester show. “Watch out for the pop dance routine in the upcoming show at Sweet Home High School. You’ll be in for some surprises,” she said, beaming as she watched students practice and emulate her choreography.
Impulse gives students an opportunity to assume a leadership role and become instructors of a class, given that they know the basics of the dance style they want to teach, and are able to devote a considerable amount of time a week. Will Schenk, senior UB student, and salsa instructor for the Impulse Dance Force this semester, learned the majority of his moves from a one credit UB dance course, Latin Rhythms, and YouTube salsa videos. From the way Schenk quickly turned, dipped, and spun his partner, Andrea Ortiz, it was hard to believe that he danced salsa for only four months. The instructors of Impulse Dance Force come from all different types of backgrounds, fusing their highly individualistic styles with traditional dance to create unique choreographic moves of their own.
From 50 to 350
Over the course of two years, the membership size has increased at an astounding rate. The President of Impulse Dance Force, junior history and English major Shannon Davis, has seen the club expand significantly from 50 members in 2004 to 350 active members in 2006. Each semester, the club grows by 50 or more members. According to Sanda Alikalfic, a junior and current Vice President of Impulse, the majority of the club’s rapid success can be attributed to mass flyer posting in the beginning of the semester and word of mouth. Alikalfic says the word of mouth method is extremely effective because existing members bring their roommates, friends, and family members along to the dance classes. “Many people are interested in learning how to dance,” Alikalfic said. “Anyone from UB can join whether or not they have dance experience. That fact alone seems to really draw people in to join Impulse.”
The sudden growth of membership in only a
few years has resulted in a larger variety of classes offered, and a more diverse range of participants. Each semester, a new dance style is added to the pool of existing genre classes. There are 23 classes offered per semester, with two different classes and genres per day, for six days of the week.
Each semester, students breathe new life into the club, through the addition of freshly innovative styles and choreography. While the size of the club has changed significantly since its inception, the main purpose of Impulse has not. Impulse “still keeps the same principles that it started off with—giving everyone at UB a chance to dance, even if they’ve never done so before,” Davis said.
Fundraising for a Cause
Last year, the sold-out end of semester show was held at the Center for the Arts. This year, the group is set to perform in Sweet Home High School April 21 at 8 p.m., upgrading the number of seats from 320 in the CFA to 725, due to the high demand of ticket sales.
The fundraising money doesn’t just benefit the club. A considerable portion of the funds raised are donated to non-profit organizations Impulse is closely affiliated with. Last year, Impulse donated a portion of their funds raised to the Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo. This year, they decided to team up with Compass House, a non-profit organization which services runaway, homeless, and at risk youth in Erie County through the provision of shelter and counseling resources.
According to Shannon Davis, Compass House recently underwent a significant budget cut, and Impulse has been working with them to raise money to cover the losses. “I think that the larger your organization is, the more responsibility you have to your community. We’re all at a university participating in a dance company in our free time, while these kids at Compass House are begging for food and trying to find a place to sleep. It puts a lot of things into perspective,” Davis says.
Even if dancing isn’t your scene, it doesn’t hurt to have a few slick moves up your sleeve just in case the situation arises. Class schedules, additional updates, and information can be found on Impulse Dance Force’s website, http://wings.buffalo.edu/sa/impulsedance.
Impulse Dance Force classes have given students like Giancarlo Alvarez, senior communication major, an edge over most men who consider the bump and grind routine their best dance move. After attending only two salsa classes, Alvarez feels he is already reaping the benefits. “I’m definitely confident that these moves are going to pay off in the long run,” Alvarez said, after he performed a dip move with his dance partner. “What girl wouldn’t want a man who knows how to salsa?”
