WHEN WE WERE NORMAL
A Historical Augmented Reality Walking Tour
Dancin’ Through the Decades
LOCATION: Hammond Hall by Entrance to Dance Studio
The Hammond building itself has a long history and appearance. From being the men’s dormitory of Palmer Hall, to becoming the Student Union Building and housing the library after two moves, Hammond has been well known as a center for student activity. Today, one specific room is home to one of the biggest clubs on campus: the Hammond Dance Studio. The second dance studio on campus, the other being that in the Recreation Center, enters through Hammond (note the Hammond Dance Studio), but it is actually located in the basement of Thompson. Some building plans from the mid-90s highlight this tunnel to the other building, and this is where the Dance Studio is located. You can see the Hammond building’s exterior from the studio.
The Dance Club wasn’t originally the biggest club on campus. In fact, it wasn’t a club at all until fairly recently. The Undergrad catalog from 1983-1984 has Dancin’ Club listed under its organizations, showing that dance would start having a permanent presence on campus. In addition, the Student Handbook from 1988-1989 also reveals the club titled simply Dancin’, which further shows the clubs evolution over time, until it became simply the Dance Club in 1995-1996.
There were various groups from Glee Club active in the 70s/80s up to a Ballroom Dancing Club active in the 2000s for some time, with elements of theater and dance at the heart of the campus community. A theater group from the 80s called “StageRight” put on many different plays and shows, and some of them, including the 1985 production of “Man of LaMancha” had significant choreography in it. This play in particular was performed in Weston Auditorium, much like the Dance Club shows are today.
However, despite this lack of a specific club until the 80s, that certainly did not mean that dance was nonexistent on campus. In fact, dance was a huge part of campus life and culture. The Winter Carnival, hosted for many years, often featured a ball that was a hit with the students, although this event was not typically hosted on campus. There were many dances throughout the 50s, 60s, and 70s, but these were often off-campus. However, slowly but surely, they started making their way back on to campus, with the occasional dance being held in the gym, mostly.
However, even though it was not always a central part of campus, it was still relevant both on and off. Fitchburg’s Sentinel and Enterprise newspapers have covered many dancing events over the years, and have also described dance clubs that were present in surrounding Fitchburg and Leominster. There was a Holiday Dance Club for high school and college students in 1969, and even in 1971 there was an “Over 30” Dance Club put into place by the Holiday Dance Club, encouraging dance for anyone and everyone. Even if they could not dance on campus, dance was a large part of the community for many years.
There were also some academic courses on dance being offered in the 50s and 60s, even leading up through the mid-90s. These electives included The Ballet, Modern Dance, Folk Dance, and Dance Forms. These were offered as either physical education courses and/or history courses, and provided a fun, different course than most that we may see today. However, these courses seemed to begin to disappear not long after the 1995-1996 Undergraduate catalog.
While it is sad to note the slow decline of academic dance classes over time, it is nice to see the organizational aspects of it slowly growing. Today, the Dance Club is the biggest club on campus, offering over 26 classes of various styles for students. In recent years, the club has also invited faculty to become a part of the action, with their separate show Dancing with the Staff. It is a wonderful thought to know that dance has seemingly always been, and hopefully always will be a big part of student life at Fitchburg State University.
