On Tuesday morning at 11 a.m., students quickly approached and arrived at Anderson Hall, Room 137 ready to dance. KNDN 351, multicultural dance, is offered for P.E. majors hoping to broaden their dancing backgrounds.

More students arrived, unrolled yoga mats and prepared for the day’s warm-up exercises.

Charles Carter, an associate professor of dance education, led the yoga routine that started with relaxation techniques such as deep inhalation. Carter led the class through a variety of yoga positions including the mountain, cobra, downward dog and prayer poses.

After warm-up, students paired up and rehearsed several dance steps for “the cakewalk.” The dance routine included couples marching together, high kicks and two steps to ragtime music.

KNDN 351 provides students with instruction in dancing and historical background as well. Carter said the class explores many cultures such as Indian, African, European, Asian and Hispanic cultures. However, exploring multicultural differences is not Carter’s only goal.

“I try to do more of an intercultural class to bring people together, different races and ethnicities,” Carter said.

Carter believes that dance requires both mental and physical preparation.
Karen Quintana, a junior physical education major said that the class is a good workout and she enjoys how the class is set up. Quintana also enjoys the way Carter teaches the class.

“I like how active he is, he does different things, and his personality,” Quintana said.

Ben Meinert, a junior physical education major enjoys learning the information behind the dances and feels the class breaks the monotony of daily class.

“It’s a lot different than sitting in a classroom all day,” Meinert said. “You get to get up and be active. It’s good to learn about all the different cultures and we get history lessons behind all the dances.”

Note: Every week, the Northern Star sends a reporter to cover an interesting or weird class at NIU. If you think your class fits the interesting or weird criteria we are looking for in our Class of the Week section, e-mail the course number, name and section number to eic@northernstar.info. Check back next Thursday for next week’s Class of the Week.

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