Lively and passionately, just feel the rhythm and let your body move for cha-cha, salsa, merengue and rumba, every Friday evening as PE233 becomes a gathering for Latin social dance students.

“Quick-quick slow, left-right-left, and rotate…,” Latin dance instructor Larisa Bates says, as she shows her students new steps. As she counts, they make the steps while watching themselves in the mirrored wall.

“She is a wonderful instructor; very patient and detailed,” student Hector Atreyu Ruiz said. “Learning the steps is a hard part, but once learned, it’s really fun.”

From beginner to intermediate, there are more than 55 students of various age groups on the dance floor, some wanting to improve their dance techniques, some looking for fun and meeting new people, and for some, dancing is a challenge.

“As a Mexican, I am familiar with these dances since we often dance at family gathering and parties,” Miguel Castro, sociology major, said. “But here in class, everything is in a pattern and organized.”

Like Castro, many other students have had exposure to the dances which are taught in this class, but they are looking to improve their skills.

“I’m from Colombia and I knew how to dance, but now I want to learn the formal dance,” Caesar Munera, chemical engineering major, said.

After a lesson on the basic steps, students find partners and the music begins.

This is the fun part of the class as joyful meringue music sounds off from the classroom and spreads out into the hallway.

“Once I hear the music, my body starts moving naturally and I forget about steps,” Monica Medina said.

As they begin focusing on their steps and all the other motions involved in a dance, most students begin to relax.

“While I dance, I can forget everything and feel released,” Lek Nakarin said. “At the end of a whole week, this is a nice thing to do.”

Also, they enjoy the change of seeing new people and dancing with different partners.

“Every time I change partners, they all are different and it is fun,” Serena Nguyen, graphic major, said. “I usually work on computer alone, so attending this class makes my life more interesting.”

For some students, like Yoon Hahn, it is a new challenge to participate in the class because it is outside of the 51-year-old woman’s normal social setting.

“I’ve not danced before, and the first time I was very shy and embarrassed about getting so close with men,” Hahn said.

“But I wanted to try something new so that it makes me think things positively,” Hahn said.

Other students, like Ruiz, use the performance aspect of the class to work on their stage presence, which in turn helps him with his career.

“I’m an actor and this class helps me to play many different roles,” Ruiz said.

As a dancer and an instructor, Bates enjoys teaching this class because it encompasses some of her favorite things in life which makes it fulfilling.

“I dance in my whole life and here my two passions combined as one, working with people and dancing,” Bates said.

“It’s an extremely good feeling to take people who don’t know anything and a few weeks later they have confidence and it’s something fun, and to see them laughing and smiling,” Bates said.

When the class ends, Students have clearly gotten a thourough workout and each one of them has a smile on his or her face.

Some students never stop dancing; after class and off campus, these students find opportunities to dance in clubs or at parties.

“Gathering with family and friends, I dance a lot, and this class is helpful since it is more fun with learning more steps,” Medina said.

Another student, Tamara Gonzalez, anthropology major, said she is taking the class to help her and her boyfriend when they show off their moves on the dance floor.

“I’m taking the class with my boyfriend,”Gonzalez said. “We go to the parties together and dance.”

In the three minutes that it takes to do a dance during class time, people become filled with joy as they express themselves to their dance partner through steps and movements rather than speech.

“As they say, if you can walk you can dance, at least you can try and move.” Bates said.