The Ballroom Dance Club at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa defended its national championship at the National Collegiate DanceSport Championships (NCDC), in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 28–30.
Competing against more than 40 colleges, UH Mānoa won first place once again for “highest point average,” as well as second place for both the overall team championship and the formation team competition, asserting its place as the ballroom dance college team to beat in the U.S. Winning top honors in the highest point average requires all members of the team to perform exceptionally well in all events.
The dancers are trained and coached by Ravi Narayan and Synthia Sumukti (choreographer and instructor). Narayan and Sumukti also represented Hawaiʻi in the amateur USA Dance National DanceSport Championships in the senior age division.
“It was an incredibly proud moment to defend our highest point average victory—it speaks volumes about our team’s dedication and passion,” said Narayan, co-instructor of the UH Mānoa Ballroom Dance Club and an adjunct faculty member in the UH Mānoa Information and Computer Sciences Department. “To finish second overall against such fierce competition is a testament to the discipline and the hundreds of hours of hard work that our students put into their training.”
Two years of success
This was just the second year the UH Mānoa team competed at the national competition since the formation of the club in September 2022. Last year, the students took first place for “highest team average” and finished in fourth place overall.
“Nationals was one of the most challenging yet rewarding tasks I’ve ever accomplished,” UH Mānoa computer science student Shaelyn Loo said. “Being able to dance and compete with such supportive coaches and teammates helped ease the nerves of competition so I could focus on having fun and performing.”
Andrew Lin, a UH Mānoa computer science student, added, “Nationals was an unforgettable experience that evoked a whirlwind of emotions—excitement, frustration, acceptance, pride and gratitude. Despite the challenges, the friendships we forged, lessons we learned and our love for ballroom dancing made it all worthwhile.”
Endurance competition
The NCDC is a grueling competition with events starting at 7 a.m. every morning. It consisted of multiple events based on proficiency (bronze, silver, gold, etc.) and age level (youth, collegiate, adult, senior, etc.). Each student danced in approximately 15 to 32 different events in both the collegiate and adult age categories at the bronze and silver skill levels. They competed in all four styles of ballroom dance including International Standard (waltz, foxtrot, tango and quickstep), American Smooth (waltz, tango, foxtrot and viennese waltz), American Rhythm (chacha, rumba, swing and bolero) and International Latin (samba, chacha, rumba and jive). Several students took individual first place awards in their respective divisions defeating up to 70 other competitors in some competitions. The NCDC trip was designed to give the team exposure to a collegiate competition, as Hawaiʻi has no statewide collegiate ballroom competitions.
An audience member and parent of a high school junior said, “Thanks to your team, my daughter (who has never done ballroom dance before) wants to join your team and is now seriously considering the University of Hawaiʻi as an option for her undergraduate studies.”
More about the Ballroom Dance Club
The Ballroom Dance Club offers beginner classes to all UH Mānoa students, faculty and staff in studio 2 in the athletics department from 6–7:30 p.m. on Tuesdays. No dance experience is required. For more information, visit the website or visit their Instagram page @bdcuhm.
The team would like to thank the Department of Information and Computer Sciences, UH Mānoa athletics department, Student Activity and Program Fee Board, Associated Students of the University of Hawaiʻi and USA Dance, Inc. for facility and financial support.
UH Mānoa 2025 nationals team roster:
- Ravi Narayan, faculty (computer science) and coach
- Synthia Sumukti, coach
- Florence Liu, faculty (math)
- D’Elle Martin, architecture
- Julietta Lopez, architecture
- Epsilon Austin, biotechnology
- Luis Hernandez, computer engineering
- Yong-Sung Masuda, computer science
- Courtney Hisamoto, computer science
- Elijah Saloma, computer science
- Shaelyn Loo, computer science
- Andrew Lin, computer science
- Michaella Villanueva, computer science
- Alexander Picken, Earth science
- Kyoko Suzuki, environmental science
- Mayumi Watanabe, hospitality
- Christopher Ramirez, linguistics
- Gregory Snyder, mechanical engineering
- Matthew Rummel, political science
- Andrea Siochi, psychology
- Sydney Kim, alumni, computer science
- Jason Aguda, alumni, computer engineering
- Wilson Tran, alumni, computer science
- Emily Pham, alumni, computer engineering
Formation team
Swing
Viennese Waltz
Waltz
