Abby Derkson/Winonan

At the Winona State University ballroom dance club’s meetings, members may find themselves waltzing to the “Game of Thrones” theme song or to the beats of Katy Perry, Rihanna or Lady Gaga.

Every Tuesday from 8 to 10 p.m. in the Integrated Wellness Complex Room 127, members learn new dances from senior club members.

At last Tuesday’s meeting, international student Fabian Heinen, a computer science major, taught the discofox and the polka, two classic German dances.

A skilled dancer who taught ballroom in Germany for three months, Heinen taught the discofox and polka because, he said, they are fun for everyone.

“I wanted to make it as fun as possible for everybody, not just for people who are skilled,” Heinen said. “[Discofox] is a very easy, basic dance and a lot of fun.”

For freshman Rene Stiller, the biggest draw was excitement.

“We listen to some good music and get out there and wiggle,” Stiller said.

Each meeting consists of a planned lesson from 8 to 9:30 p.m., followed by a free dance from 9:30 to 10 p.m., when members could request songs and dance however they wanted.

While the club, which originally started in Spring 2011, began exclusively as swing dance practice, they branched out to include cha-cha, rumba, waltz, lindy hop, tango and jive.

Vice President Henry Cole was there for the club’s inception.

“In the beginning,” Cole said, “we started out with two guys and two girls and now we have about 18 guys and 18 girls.”

For students nervous about dancing with a partner of the same sex, Cole said same-sex dancing is not a problem for members of the club.

Members, especially returning members, who dance with a partner of the same sex become what Cole called “ambidancetrous,” meaning they have the ability to both lead and follow in a dance.

The Winona State ballroom dance club incorporated not only dance lessons in their meetings but also recreational activities off campus.

In the past years they have taken trips to the Wabasha Street Caves in St. Paul.

They also co-hosted a swing dance at a church in the Twin Cities and recently traveled to Swing du Nord, a lindy hop workshop in the Twin Cities.

President Libby Thiss, one of the co-founders of the club, said she believed it was the modern take on a stereotypically “old-person” activity that made the club so interesting and exciting for its members.

“Even though it seems like something for old fogies,” Thiss said, “it’s really fun and we dance to cool music.”

Stiller agreed. “You can’t not smile when you’re dancing,” she said. “The whole thing is just infectiously happy.”

Contact Abby at [email protected]