Nanna Notthoff

How long have you been dancing?

I danced, social dancing, a little bit back when I was in eighth or ninth grade back home in Germany but really, I only started when I came here so, fall of '03. So I've been dancing for about two and a half years.

What got you started or made you interested in dancing?

Basically when I first started in Germany, it was kind of common that when you were in eighth or ninth grade you learned the basics of social dancing and I really enjoyed it so when I came here I heard they had a ballroom dance team. I wanted to continue dancing but I never really thought about competing but then I got into it.

What kind of work do you do to prepare for your competitions?

We have lessons for different levels. If you're a beginner you just go to the beginner lesson and as you get more advanced you try out for the different levels. Beginner lessons are once a week and other levels are twice a week and we practice almost every day.

Why do you enjoy doing it?

It's a lot of fun. Also, when you go travel somewhere for a competition, you get to know your teammates more so it's like a team bonding thing also. And at the competition, there are lots of other college students from all different schools so it's fun to see just how many people dance. Obviously, you want to win, too, so that's a part of it.

What is your favorite part of being on the team?

It's hard to say because the team has gotten so big. When I started, it was a really close group and we did a lot of things together outside of dancing. Right now, I would say that I don't know everybody anymore because we have almost a hundred people. But you make a lot of friends and you can do a lot of things together, not just dancing.

Do you find it hard to balance your studies and your dancing?

Not really. I mean, dancing, if you really get into it, does take up a lot of time but it motivates you to get things done so you can go practice.

How does dancing add to your experience at U of M?

When I came here, I found Michigan to be really big so it's really nice to have a smaller community. And I moved dorms a lot my freshman year because I was in temporary housing originally so I didn't get the chance to make friends in the dorms a lot so it was a good way for me to get to know people and it was nice because people on the team are from all different majors and they're undergrad and grad students from all over campus. A lot of the team members are engineers. So you get to know people from everywhere and lots of different disciplines and there are also a lot of people from different countries so that's really nice, too.