As ballroom dancing is becoming a growing trend in Iowa, Iowa State’s Ballroom Dancing Company is stepping up to accommodate aspiring ballroom dancers.

According to Ryan Ellsworth, a senior in architecture and president of the company, ballroom dancing has become more popular in Iowa, especially at the bigger universities.

Since its inception in the late 1980s, ISU’s Ballroom Dancing Company has grown to be one of the best university ballroom dancing companies in Iowa.

“We’ve expanded a lot in the past year and changed our approach and publicity,” Ellsworth said. “This year we’ve had a lot more than we’ve ever had.”

The Ballroom Dancing Company has about 30 members and an additional 20 to 30 walk-ins for its Friday night dances.

There are two series of lessons that are available to the public, Ellsworth said.

Intermediate dance lessons, taught by Valerie Williams of Co-Motion Dance Theater in Ames, are held on Wednesday nights from 8 to 9:30.

Beginning dance lessons taught by Ellsworth are held on Friday nights from 6:30 to 7:30. Following the Friday night beginner’s class is a weekly Friday night dance.

Leatha Sternberg, a sophomore in dietetics and a member of the club, said the Friday night lessons and dances are held at a very convenient time.

“They are not during the week, so you don’t feel like you can’t go,” Sternberg said.

The classes are necessary, but there is a lot to be learned from the examples of other people, she said.

“When you dance with other people who know more than you, you learn a lot quicker than you do in the classrooms,” Sternberg said. “It’s a lot of fun. You get to dance with all kinds of people.”

Although the company provides an ideal ballroom dancing atmosphere in Ames every Friday night, the club members enjoy attending a ballroom in Des Moines — Lake Robin’s Ballroom — on special occasions.

“There is a big dance floor and a live band,” Ellsworth said. “That’s when it all pays off — when you can have fun dancing.”

Among the different dances the company teaches and dances are the tango, the cha cha, the waltz, the fox trot and the swing.

“Our group has a particular interest in the swing,” Ellsworth said.

In addition to weekly lessons and dances, members of the company have the opportunity to attend workshops and competitions. Last weekend the company attended a workshop at McCallister College in Minneapolis.

“They brought in professional ballroom dancers,” Ellsworth said. “We learn new stuff or refine the things we already know.”

These trips are paid for with semester dues from the members and funding from GSB.

Although members have to pay to attend workshops, lessons and competitions, the Friday night dances are free and open to the public.

“[The company] is technically open to anyone, but the crowd tends to be Iowa State students,” Ellsworth said.

Lessons and dances take place in room 213 of the Forker building.