Wonderful memories of my ballroom dancing days at university | Animal Magic

Being at vet school wasn’t all work and no play. For three years I was a member of the university ballroom dancing team.

I was very lucky to be invited to join. I was attending a beginner’s class with my then boyfriend, when our teacher suggested we try out.

Suddenly we were catapulted from absolute beginners still mouthing 1-2-3-and-4, to sequins, feathers and routines.

There were three teams, each made up of four couples. Each couple specialised in a specific dance. The gap was for cha-cha-cha, so that is what we had to learn. Our teacher prepared a routine for us, and every few weeks we would hop on a bus and travel to a different university to see how we were progressing.

We learnt all kinds of dances, including jive, waltz and quickstep. It was a wonderful way to let off steam and keep fit.

But it was really in my fourth year at vet school, and third year on the team that things changed. I had a partner change, and was paired with the very talented Jeremy to dance quickstep for the first team. He had wonderful posture and presence, and I had to do everything I could not to let him down.

We practised every single day for a couple of hours at a time. Trophies started to replace rosettes, and I became very fit.

At the end of a wonderful year we danced in the varsity match, Cambridge against Oxford.

This event differed in that every team member was expected to dance two ballroom dances and two Latin dances, so it was a great test. I have no idea now how we did, but what I do recall was the tremendous sense of teamwork and accomplishment after all that hard work.

I went back to Cambridge last month for a team reunion. It was a very happy occasion, although our dancing was a little slower, and some knees a little more creaky.

I gave up dancing for the last two years of my time at university, to concentrate on my vet studies, but I am so grateful to still have those wonderful memories.

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