You've Got The Moves Like Jagger?


It doesn’t matter really, as long as you’ve got the beat in your feet.

Let your love for dancing loose on the floor of UA’s Dancing Club and groove along with other students who share your passion.   

Ms. Amanda Abi Rached was approached by Université Antonine in 2015 and asked to teach the participating students all about dancing, as a way to create new activities for the students. She gladly accepted and has been offering weekly classes ever since. She expressed her appreciation towards UA and how it shows its care for its students in various ways, while on campus and after graduation.

The Dancing Club started off pretty well, with the participation of 15 students, almost as many boys versus girls, and they got to learn the basics of the Latin dances during their first semester: salsa, cha-cha and samba. Ms. Abi Rached was pleasantly surprised to see that they weren’t as shy as she feared they would be, considering they’d be dancing with new partners. Happily, their excitement took over, followed by their perseverance and hard work. By the time the dancing students made it to the graduation ceremony, they were able to present a salsa show!

The dancing classes  at UA were scheduled on Fridays but, for the upcoming semester, Ms. Abi Rached aims to pick the day and time that suits the largest number of participants, knowing that so many have expressed their wish to join. On the other hand, she has many plans in sight to enhance the Dancing Club and strengthen its team: Prepare choreographies for various UA events so the club can perform in public more often; create dancing outings so the students can practice the steps they learned in class in a fun environment; find sponsors to cover the fees of dancing equipment and outfits.

And if you’ve been wondering why this talented choreographer’s name sounds so familiar, well, it’s because it was mentioned every Sunday night on MTV, as she took part in the biggest live show on TV: Dancing with The Stars. In 2014 she partnered with Ali Hammoud, Mr Lebanon 2012, and this year she was paired with Lebanese actor Nicolas Mezher with whom she made it to the TOP 6 finalists! Zeina Assaf, also UA Alumni, was part of DWTS as well this year as she danced with Lebanese football player Reda Antar during 8 weeks.

Ms. Abi Rached doesn’t hide her exhaustion from her overloaded schedule between the TV show, her daytime job as Head of Marketing at Citymall and the UA Dancing Club. Still, she is very thankful for being able to make a career out of her passion and she recognizes the great exposure DWTS has given her in the MENA region. 

Now, in case you’re still hesitating to join the UA Dancing Club, just listen to what Frank Sinatra has to say:  â€œput on your dancing boots and come dance with me”!



By Carmen Yazbeck







Amanda Abi Rached, UA Alumni in Advertising and professional choreographer