Every Sunday night at the stroke of 7, room 133 White Building is transformed into an imaginary ballroom. No, it's not the Arthur Murray Dancers, but the members of the Ballroom Dance Club.

Since its beginning ten years ago, the Ballroom Dance Club has provided a dance arena where members can practice what they have learned in Ballroom I and where beginners can learn the dance steps.

Ballroom I offers six dances: waltz, cha cha, fox trot, jitterbug, polka and tango. The dances taught in Ballroom II, the Viennese waltz, rumba and samba, are not yet represented by the club.

"You can just join the club whether you are a beginner or from a dance troupe, such as the Internationale dancers," said Celia Shultz, president of the Ballroom Dance Club. "This is the closest they can get to experts."

The six dances the club offers have roots around the world. The waltz originated in early 19th century Bavaria as a country folk dance. Europeans called the waltz a "wild dance" because a man actually dared to dance with his hand on a lady's waist.

The fox trot developed a little closer to home; in 1912, Harry Fox adapted the dance from his vaudeville stage routines and it became the first dance that permitted partners to hold each other closer than arm's length.

These vary from the exotic quick movements of the Latin dances. The cha cha began in Cuba and is a derivation of the mambo and rumba, the dances performed in the movie Dirty Dancing.

The tango, which is often associated with romance and suaveness because of its asymmetrical and sophisticated step patterns, is commonly pictured as a woman clenching a long stem rose in between her teeth as she struts across the floor with her partner. It a descendant of the early Spanish folk dance, the Milonga, and was often practiced in Argentina.

The jitterbug, although developed in the 1940s with big band music, now follows a fast-paced rhythm accompanied by contemporary popular music.

"The jitterbug is the most popular and the hardest dance to master," Shultz said. "It's hard to keep with the quick beat."

The members of the club are as diverse as the origins of each dance.

"Our members include faculty, local residents, both undergraduates and graduates and both pairs and singles." Shultz said. "We get 40 to 60 people at each Sunday night meeting. On Superbowl Sunday we even had about 35 people show up."

In the 1990s, ballroom dancing is still taught to traditional big band music, but it also can be updated and adapted to the rhythms of today's music, Shultz said.

"I've seen people adapt the cha cha to Great White's music, the jitterbug to the song 'Your Momma Don't Sing and Your Daddy Don't Rock 'n' Roll' and the fox trot to the song 'Rubber Ducky Your the One'," she said.

Karen Bane, vice president of the club, said the art of ballroom dancing will never tire.

"Ballroom dancing is a skill you can have for the rest of your life," she said. "You don't have to feel bashful about dancing and having a good time."

If the club's members want to one-two-three, one-two-three off campus, the Holiday Inn's Hop, Toftree's Le Papillon and local organizations such as the Elks club provide a ballroom dancing atmosphere, Shultz said.