The 2009 Committee

Chris Warner - Chair

Greetings! My name is Chris, and my role in this lifeboat full of lunatics is that of chair. Not the wooden sort that you sit on though. I'll be a final-year medical student in 2009, and have been dancing for a while. I love the way dancing brings people together and builds fantastic friendships.

My vision for the next year of dancing is to have a solid basis of excellent classes at all levels, so we can all learn to dance beautifully, as well as a busy and varied social calendar of ballroom events, where every member can be involved and have a great time.

See you on the dance floor!

Lara Milne – Vice Chair

I was fairly societally clueless at the beginning of my first year at UCT, but thankfully some enthusiastic friends took me along to ballroom. Keen as I was, I didn't count on it being quite so addictive...

These days I'm not entirely convinced that university doesn't revolve solely around dancing, but my transcript tells me that 2009 is my second year of a B. A. in English and Psychology, and every now and then I pay that some attention. When I'm not writing essays, drinking overpriced coffee or wearing out my dancing shoes, I sing, bake biscuits and, occasionally, try to read things other than set-works.

2009 looks to be a fantastic year for the society, so come to classes, come to the socials, sign up for anything and everything that comes along - you'll meet some wonderful people and have a huge amount of fun.

Zandile Makgatho - Treasurer

Hi everyone, this is Zandile, your treasurer for 2009. I’m a third year B.Bus. Sci. Finance student and this is my second year dancing. I had so much fun and met great people in 2008 and joining this society was absolutely an incredible choice I made. I can confidently say that I’ve found myself the best way to relax and I don’t regret a second of the time I've spent dancing.

Besides dancing I like watching movies, travelling…(I also love adventure). I hope that all new members are going have a blast.

See you all on the dance floor!!!!! …

Hayley McIntosh - Intervarsity

I joined ballroom in 2006 and have never looked back. I am currently a doctoral student in Atmospheric Science. I love reading, programming, beading and dancing (obviously!).

I highly recommend ballroom for anyone who loves to meet people, have fun and learn to dance. Out of all the societies on campus, this is the best. I look forward to socials every time, especially the imaginative costumes for themes. I have never owned so many arb outfits before, you never know when you'll need a funky hat or wings or tiara!

Looking ahead to later in the year, I am organising the Ballroom Intervarsity for all the universities to come have fun and show off. It is an event not to miss and a great party for all involved.

Andrew Martens – Intervarsity Team

Hi, my name is Andrew. I will be in charge of organising the Intervarsity team for 2009. I am an engineer working on a government project to build a radio telescope in the Northern Cape.

I have been dancing for four years now and enjoy helping others discover the joys of dancing. It is a wonderful mix of exercise, music, mental and physical discipline, social interaction, sensuality and the meeting of minds.

Richard Parry - Formal

Our unique society is more like a family. You'll make friends, have fun, and most importantly, learn how to dance anywhere. We have an excellent committee this year for you guys to use/support and 2009 promises to be our best year yet.

A little bit about me: Over the past few years I did my undergrad and then Masters in electrical engineering at UCT. When I'm not dancing I run my own engineering firm based in Cape Town, which takes up most of my time. I've been dancing for a year now but it feels like I've been here forever.

Apart from general society duties, my job on the committee is to organise the second best event on our calendar, the UCT Ballroom Formal. It's going to be an incredible occasion this year so I hope to see you all there!

Chris Louw – Socials

Hey whoever’s reading this! I’m Chris L and by the time you read this, I will have completed a B.A. (God willing!) in English and Linguistics (as well as a whole bunch of other fun things) and should be studying to become a primary school teacher. Should be.

I’m absolutely crazy about music, dancing, fun, people, fun people and dressing up. Actually, you could stop reading that sentence after “crazy” and it would make enough sense. Yup, I’m overseeing (instead of overlooking) Socials this year, so get ready for some outrageous themes! Let me know if you have any cool ideas – I thrive on collaborative creativity.

… aaaaand, cut.

James Hu – O-Week

You know, writing a blurb about yourself is actually a lot harder than it looks. It's like packing a small suitcase, having to meticulously arrange everything into a compact paragraph.

First of all I need to follow my brief and tell you that I'm in my third year, majoring in Psychology, Religious Studies and Organizational Psychology and will be in charge of the O-Week portfolio this year. But it's not all that fascinating, is it? No? Well, I could tell you about my passion for photography, sports and inexplicable obsession with all things techie and gadgety. Although all that will do is give me the label of being the geeky-tennis-playing-photo-taking ballroom dude. Hmm…

I suppose the best thing, then, would be just to welcome back all the oldies. And for our newcomers: ballroom is about enriching your life with wonderful people and an appreciation for the way our bodies can move. After all, what's more fun than pulling those complex-but-oh-so-fancy Latin dance moves and knowing that you are an absolute rock star?

Adrienne Daniels – Medal Tests

Hello hello hello. I suppose you want to know who I am?

Well, aside from a ballroom addict, I am a third year Occupational Therapy student (it's okay if you don't know what that is - I'm still figuring that out for myself and I'll try to explain if you ask). I have been dancing since 2007 and I absolutely love it! Once you start you'll wonder how life existed before ballroom.

I will be organising Medal Tests this year, your chance to get a good idea of how your dancing is going and have fun in the process! You'll get to have an awesome time at the pre-Medals social and show your friends and family everything you've learned on the day.

Looking forward to an awesome year! Sunshine and rainbows!

Jonathan Page - IT

greetings all - if you don't already know me, welcome to ballroom and latin 2009, and the best year of your life! otherwise, welcome back to the society: this year is going to be even better than the previous years (and they were pretty awesome)!

whoami? <user name>
(if you get that, you will know why i'm here... if you didn't, don't worry - it's a computer science joke)

seriously though, who am i? in order:
1. a child of the Father
2. a human
3. a male
4. a son
5. a counsellor (only by my Father's grace)
6. a ballroom/latin dancer
7. a computer scientist
8. the one on the right in the photograph

my job on the committee includes having a good time... oh, and all the computer-type stuff, including keeping the website up to date. i have been dancing for two years now, and i can't remember ever not dancing - reality is, after all, only an illusion created by the lack of a dancefloor!