For Lenka Smiljanic, A27, becoming a part of the Tufts University Ballroom Dance Team meant more than just continuing her training as a dancer—it meant finding a sense of community somewhere totally new.

Smiljanic, an architecture and environmental studies major, is from Belgrade, Serbia, where she began ballroom dance lessons and competitions as a child. After dancing less in high school, she learned about the Tufts Ballroom Dance Team at a club fair and decided to give it a shot. Just one year later, her dedication led to her being elected as co-captain.

“Everybody joins the team for fun, and everybody stays,” Smiljanic reflected. “It’s the biggest commitment any of the team members have on campus, but it’s also very fluid. You can make your participation as intense or as social and nonchalant as you want it to be.” 

Members of the ballroom dance team, which was founded in 1995, are trained by first-year coaches Brad Lowe and Olivia Schrantz, who each specialize in two of the four dance types offered. Lowe teaches rhythm and Latin, while Schrantz specializes in smooth and standard. 

On Mondays and Thursdays, the team practices begin at 9 p.m., with social dance hours on Wednesdays, which are open to dancers beyond Tufts. The team also offers open practice hours on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons, where coaches aren’t present, but members can practice. The team’s executive board meets on Sunday afternoons. 

“Tuesday is my one day off from ballroom,” Smiljanic said. “The rest of the days I’m doing at least something for, with, or about the team. It’s a big commitment if you decide to be captain of any team, but it’s also really exciting and nice being able to help them continue.” 

When the team isn’t working together as part of the regular weekly schedule, Smiljanic and her co-captain, Cassie Colmenares, A25, are finding ways to facilitate bonding off the dance floor.

“We have potlucks and hangouts that we call hair parties, where we do each other’s hair before competitions,” Smiljanic said. “That building of community is what makes me happiest about being part of the team or being able to contribute my time and efforts into the team.”

Colmenares, a biology major who plans to pursue microbiology research after graduating, found herself drawn to the ballroom team at Tufts in her first year. Like Smiljanic, her high school schedule kept her from sticking with a specific hobby, like dance, but the timing of Tufts’ team practices and outings worked for her college schedule.

“It’s been an amazing experience,” Colmenares said. “I started on the executive board two years ago. As a sophomore, I was the junior competition coordinator, and learned the ropes of how competitions are organized and what it takes to put them together. Then as a junior, I was the head of my own competition as senior competition coordinator.”

The two-year commitment required Colmenares to run Tufts Comp, a full-scale ballroom competition featuring all four dance styles, most recently held at the Cummings Center in November 2024. In addition to Tufts students, competitors from colleges and universities throughout Greater Boston traveled to Medford for the daylong event.

The team aims to compete in three competitions per semester, with other host universities including Boston University, Harvard College, the College of the Holy Cross, Northeastern University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Individuals also compete on their own throughout the year, in areas such as New York City, where several Tufts team members traveled for the Big Apple Dance Competition this spring.