For a few hours every week, Yale sophomore Maile Harris puts on her suede-bottomed dancing shoes and waltzes, cha-chas, foxtrots, or swings. Sometimes she does the jive, rumba, quickstep, or samba.

Dancing the night away, students gathered on Saturday evening in the Jonathan Edwards College dining hall to watch Yale Ballroom’s annual Winter Ball. The event featured 18 dances in different styles, ...