THE SAGA OF THE SIBLING SAMBA

Last weekend, two Harvard students traveled to Evry, France to compete in the World Amateur 10-dance Competition. They have been partners for seven years and are the top-ranked amateur ballroom dancing team in the United States. Together they have helped the Harvard Ballroom Dance Team in its four-year undefeated streak and its number-one collegiate ranking.

All this while having to contend with sibling rivalry.

Brother and sister duo Alexander M. Fung '98 and Jennifer M. Fung '97 began dancing when they were 10 and 11 years old at the urging of their parents, both of whom are amateur ballroom enthusiasts.

In fact, Alex and Jennifer have two other siblings who are also competitive ballroom dancers.

Before college, Jennifer danced with her younger brother Victor, who is currently a sophomore at UCLA. One month after they entered into the junior national competition in Los Angeles--and won.

"We've always been competitive dancers and our training has always had a competitive focus," Jennifer says.

While they were in high school, the Fungs would often compete locally in Los Angeles.

In 1993, while still teenagers, they began competing on an adult level. That year, the two went to the national competition and took second-place.

Alex, who used to dance with his sister Tiffany in competitions, says that dancing with his sister may seem a little strange to outsiders, but it is "not uncommon" in the ballroom dancing world. Communication among partners is essential to competition and dancing with a family member helps facilitate this, he says.

But Jennifer says that dancing with her brother hasn't always been so simple.

When they were little, Jennifer was faced with the difficulty of dancing with a younger brother who only reached to her waist. But the large discrepancy in height between the two was the least of their problems.

Jennifer says she and her brother Victor would often get in "disagreements" on the style of dancing and the interpretation of music.

During one noteable spat, Jennifer slapped Victor during a rehearsal. But Jennifer says she has since seen the error of her ways in using physical force to prove her point.

"I haven't slapped him in years," she said.

Dancing at Harvard

When both Alex and Jennifer got into Harvard, the family decided to switch partners for convenience sake. Since then, Alex and Jennifer have been a team, and have been members of the ballroom dancing organizations at Harvard.

"When I first came to Harvard, I was very impressed by the club because of their enthusiasm for ballroom dancing," Jennifer said. "Team members are very supportive of each other."

Both Alex and Jennifer credit the Harvard-Radcliffe Ballroom Dancing Club with offering a place to socialize and practice their dancing.

Jasmin S. Roman '00 began dancing with the club early during her first year.

"The team is like a family," she says. "When you learn a new dance, you feel such a sense of accomplishment."

The Harvard Ballroom Dancing Team is the competitive wing within the club. The team competes against other colleges including MIT, Brown, Tufts and UNC.

However, the Fung couple also competes on its own as it did this past weekend in France.

Although the duo didn't make it to the semi-finals of the world competition, the pair says they were pleased with the experience.

"This was our first time competing at the world 10-dance competition so we didn't have any expectations," Jennifer says. "We just wanted to dance well."

Thirty-two couples competed, and like Alexander and Jennifer, each was the number-one ranked couple from their respective country.

Along with brother-sister duos, there are some husband-wife couples on the circuit. But according to Jennifer, these combinations are relatively rare in the ballroom dancing world.

"I think most couples are just good friends who dance and work together for the love of the sport," she says.

The 10-dance competition the Fungs attended last weekend consisted of two styles: Latin and Standard.

The Latin dances consist of the Cha Cha, Samba, Rhumba, Paso Doble and Jive. The Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Viennese Waltz and Quickstep make up the standard dances.

Judges base their ranking on footwork, frame and musical interpretation.

"I must say, it was very tiring because we danced so many dances and had so many costume changes," Jennifer says.

Jennifer and Alex practice three or four times a week for one and a half to three hours with their two coaches.

The Fungs success in ballroom dancing seems to not be exclusive to the two that attend Harvard.

Last November the first U.S. representatives to the World Amateur Standard Competition in Vienna were Victor and Tiffany Fung. Tiffany is currently a sophomore in high school.