The Harvard-Radcliffe ballroom dance team tangled with archrival Catholic University on Saturday in Memorial Hall, and waltzed to a deadlock.

Twelve Harvard couples participated in the event, which also included teams from New York University, Yale, MIT and more than 80 individual dancers from the Greater Boston area.

Quan Vu '92 and Nora Lee Notzon '95 clinched a victory for Harvard in the American Style events. They received 24.5 out of a possible 25 points for their performance of the swing.

Feminist Dancer

Catholic University, ranked second in the nation, tied the competition by capturing the International competition.

Although ballroom dancing is "very strict, there was a range of non-traditional events," according to Juliet E. McMains '94, a member of the third-ranked Harvard team.

"As a feminist and a ballroom dancer, I've had trouble assimilating my personal views with my passion for this sexist sport, where the man always leads and the woman always follows," McMains said.

Dressed in the customary tails and white tie, McMains broke with tradition by leading her partner across the stage.

Highlight

She said the highlight of her evening was when two women, dancing together, placed first in the merengue among 42 entrants.

The music and costumes were an eclectic mix of the distinguished past and the brazen present. "We had Fred Astaire romances, Latin rhythms and up-to-beat bands such as En Vogue," said Notzon.

Harvard had hoped for a decisive victory to overtake Catholic University in the national rankings Brigham Young University, which offers a major it ballroom dancing, is ranked number one, although "they do not deign to dance with anyone on the East Coast," according to Asha E. Weinstein '93.

In two weeks, Harvard will travel to Rhode Island, and during spring break some dancers from the team will participate in the Intercontinental Intercollegiate Dance Festival in England.