Whilst I was trawling through the vast array of societies available here at Cardiff, a certain one caught my eye.

Keen to try something completely new, I was set on finding a ‘wild card’ society, so, when I noticed CU Dancesport, I was certainly intrigued. After all, there could be nothing more unfamiliar to me than dance.

Perhaps I was feeling adventurous, but after years of watching Strictly and criticising its celebrities from the comfort of my own home, it was finally my time to take the plunge into the glittering and glamorous world of Ballroom and Latin dance.

CU Dancesport offers dance lessons for all abilities in Ballroom, Latin, and Salsa, with ‘Dancesport’ being the competitive division of Ballroom and other partnered dances.w First stop: Ballroom. Our first Ballroom dance was going to be The Waltz.

Luckily, I was among many other complete beginners, but unluckily, I ended up in the front row, exposed where the teacher could see me, and between two obviously more experienced dancers.

This was certainly outside of my comfort zone. The teacher assured us that The Waltz was similar to walking, we needed flexed knees and the first step in the sequence was heel to toe.

Sounds easy enough. But after confusing my left and right feet repeatedly for 15 minutes, I was definitely humbled.

Nevertheless, I greatly enjoyed imagining myself gliding across the floor as the music played, a feeling that was exaggerated when we danced in hold (with a partner).

I took the role as follower whilst my partner was the leader, and together we eventually managed to remember the sequence we had been taught five minutes ago without stepping on each other’s feet, a success!

Next we ventured into the world of Latin with the basics of the Cha Cha. Again, we learnt a basic sequence of steps, but this time the rhythm was more difficult, with it often beginning on the second beat and creating a more syncopated feel.

We also had some added extras, including a spin and the ‘New Yorker’ move, which made me feel very glamorous.

This time, I took the reins as leader (most attendees were female, so we took turns at learning the leader and follower parts) and desperately tried to remember the sequence and not get distracted by the music.

Each time we ran through it, the music was getting faster and faster, the more it sped up, the more mistakes we made, but the more fun it became. Just as we were getting into the flow, the music ended and class was over all too soon.

Everyone I spoke to had enjoyed the class as thoroughly as I had, and now the hall was full of discussions of the class, the dances, the latest series of Strictly, not to mention the two performances from committee members that had interspersed the lesson: they had made The Waltz and the Cha Cha seem utterly effortless.

I was even more impressed by their costumes (the beautiful dresses and shoes may or may not have been a part of my decision to join).

Whilst it was daunting to go to a society alone, the overwhelmingly positive and welcoming atmosphere at CU Dancesport put me at ease instantly and resulted in me having one of the best experiences I’ve had at university so far.

I was so convinced that I went to the Salsa class the very next day. There is only one word for CU Dancesport: fab-u-lous!