Abigail Barber created a booklet addressing students’ ballroom dance needs at BYU-Idaho. In the booklet, she utilized research and quotes from students and teachers to explain that ballroom dance is highly beneficial to students. Then, she pointed out where we are falling short with the ballroom dance program according to students. Finally, she explored what we could do to improve the program and made suggestions based primarily on university objectives.
Abigail conducted 20 interviews for the project. 15 were with students, four were with teachers (including the acting Chair of the Dance Department), and one was with the Dean of Performing and Visual Arts. She researched what the literature had to say about ballroom dance’s impact on people. Because she selected such a complex and sensitive topic, she had to be careful about what was included in the resulting document. She also needed to be considerate during interviews. Being on a Christ-centered campus, almost everyone interviewed actively avoided contention. They likely understood the sensitivity of the topic.
Abigail decided to pursue this project because she got into ballroom dance at BYU-Idaho, and developed a passion for it. Recently, many changes were made to the ballroom dance classes at BYU-Idaho. From teachers to curriculum to class offerings, the program underwent significant changes. Abigail has made a great deal of friends through ballroom, so she heard about how her fellow students felt. She communicated with teachers about the changes to find out more. Partway through Winter 2025, Abigail knew she needed to do something, so she decided to make it her senior project or her capstone project in the Spring. Thankfully, she got to use her ideas for both of them because this semester allowed students to use their capstone project as their senior project.
This was a very special project to Abigail because she was able to incorporate most of the skills that she gained from her communications classes in a way that focuses on ballroom dance, which she is passionate about. She used visual skills to design her booklet, research presentation skills to effectively display and label data within the document, and writing skills to keep her content organized and readable. Abigail also utilized skills from her emphasis to understand complex organizational conflict and communicate appropriately.