By Ben Dickison, Staff Writer

On Wednesday evenings this semester, the Health United Building (HUB) has become the site of the biggest shindig on campus. Sophomore Biomedical Science major Jasmine Washington has taken a spontaneous suggestion in an R.A. meeting and partnered with TriHealth to bring free line dancing classes to Xavier students and staff. 

“We hosted two [line dancing classes] in the Auxiliary gym last year and had like 30 or 40 people show up to each,” TriHealth and Xavier Group Fitness Director Chris Buzzelli said.  “We knew there was an appetite for it, so when Jasmine reached out to me, I knew we could make this happen.” 

As a student in her class, one would be struck by Washington’s ability to break down a complicated routine into digestible steps. It’s as if she skipped the walking stage as an infant and went straight from crawling to dancing. Washington has been dancing competitively since she was eight years old and was responsible for teaching her high school dance team their routines.

“It’s incredible to see the confidence learning a new dance instills,” Washington said following the conclusion of her first class, where students acquired the skills to boogie to Pitbull and Lil Jon’s “Damn I Love Miami” and Sabrina Carpenter’s “Good Graces.”

Washington understands that her classes may be attended by a wide variety of members of the Musketeer community. When one attends class, they will be surrounded by ballet experts, hip-hop heroes, wedding reception warriors, cowboys and cowgirls alike. 

As a result of this variety, Washington allows her students to control their own dancing destiny throughout the class. Students are able to decide when they are ready to learn the steps at full speed without music, when to integrate the music and even agree as a group to modify the routine for that given class.

The vocation of dance instructor had been absent for Washington in her first year at Xavier. When she was in her first meeting as a first-time R.A. in Kuhlman Hall, opportunity struck.

She recalls being in R.A. training when her peers brought up that they had attended a line dancing class with Hallie Gilbert ‘25 during Spring Semester 2025. 

At that point, the room erupted with excitement and support for the idea. There was just one problem: no one had signed up to teach the class. Washington stood up and simply uttered, “I would love to.” 

So the groovin’ commenced. Each Wednesday from 5:10 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Balance Studio room on the bottom floor of the HUB, all Musketeers are welcome to get “footloose.”