Legs twirled over shoes like spindles to the floor, arms flapped in formation, and bodies thrusted forward to undulate like serpents as they popped their assets to create sizzling performances.
Ten dance crews echoed each other’s performances with new beats and styles, some shadowy stilted marionettes, others neon ribboned liquid gyrations of hips and hair flung back.
The crews auditioned for this year’s Best Dance Crew competition. The judges consisted of members from Student Activities and the school’s dance team, including Miss UVU Alisha Lee. Of the ten crews, six were selected to compete in this year’s Best Dance Crew competition, Nov. 17, 8:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Among the winning crews were the “Primas,” a group of five neon tutu wearing young women: McCall Arend, Broklyn Bickmore, Kacie Hiatt, Eva Lopez, and Stefanie Roper. All these young women entered with competition experience, Hiatt having a particular lifelong interest in hip hop. The group had been together three weeks before the tryouts, one of their main goals being to get into the school spirit at UVU.
Another group who tried out was the Cha-cha/hip-hop mix duo of Johnny Ahn and Whitney Hallam. Having met each other in a ballroom class, their main goal was to get Ahn another shot at the upper three placements in the competition, which Ahn missed last year with his dance partner, managing 4th place.
A third team was the techno and extraterrestrial themed “We are Martian.” The three young women – Kayla Stout, Brooke Thomas, and Katie Williams – wore black tight pants and dark hoodies as they clockworked their way around the dance floor in a performance that caught the judges’ attention, pushing them into one of the six slots for the November competition. The other teams that have until the 17th to perfect their moves include Molly & Tennis, Double Vision, Tiono Lapale, and MBD.
“Our school has so much talent,” said Cori Fox, Fine Arts Chair of Student Activities. “It’s difficult to pick the winners.”
By Eric Wood
