Look out, dance fans. MTV's "America's Best Dance Crew" is coming to Tufts — only student groups will be taking the stage in place of groups like JabbaWockeeZ and Super Cr3w. The student-run event Tufts Best Dance Crew is a take on the new hit television series, showcasing a wide array of dance groups and styles
on campus.
Tufts Best Dance Crew starts tonight at 8:30 in Cohen Auditorium, when all eight groups competing for the ultimate title will perform. After all of the groups have shown their stuff, four will be selected to continue to the semifinals. The event runs every Friday night for the next three weeks, and in the end one Tufts dance group will be able to claim superiority over all the rest.
The original idea for the project came from sophomores Kenneth Lee and Hisham Bedri, who wanted to use Tufts dance to impact both students and the world. "Tufts is a very dance-based school," Lee said. "We have an abnormally high number of dance groups, and we wanted to use this to impact charity."
Lee and Bedri took their dance-off project to Pangea, a student organization for global awareness and action, where senior Rishikesh Bhandary and sophomore Rebekah Holtz got involved. Each year Pangea has a large spring event to promote global awareness, and Tufts Best Dance Crew was perfect for getting the whole
school involved.
The event is free, but upon entrance and throughout the show, Pangea will be taking donations to support its many committees. The organization's projects range from building a computer lab for an orphanage in Cambodia to delivering solar cookers to refugee camps
in Darfur.
"Any donation truly helps those in need," Holtz said. "There will also be posters set up for what each committee of Pangea does, and there are two presentations each show, so people know where their money is going."
The eight groups are placed in two brackets for the first show: Group A is made up of Envy, Turbo, Sarabande and Tap Ensemble, while Group B will feature the Burlesque Troupe, La Salsa, Garba and Spirit of Color. The types of dance will range from step to modern, from Latin to break dancing, from traditional South Asian to sexy burlesque.
The audience itself will be playing a huge role in Tufts Best Dance Crew because two of the final four groups will be chosen based solely on cheers from the students. There will be a decibel meter on stage to gauge the loudness of the audience when they cheer for their favorite two groups, while a panel of judges will choose the other two groups moving on to the semifinals.
"This is the first event of its kind, and we hope it will be fun and exciting," said Bedri, who is also the event's MC. "It should be a high-energy event with a lot of dancing. The crowd's response is crucial for the crews."
All of the coordinators promise that there will be many surprises to keep the audience entertained. These unscheduled performances may be other dance groups not competing, or perhaps non-dance performance groups to give the dancers a chance to rest.
Fortunately the party doesn't stop when the show ends. There will be an after-party at Hotung with a multitude of DJs to keep the dancing going into the wee hours of the morning.
The event promises to be a great show for everyone, as well as an opportunity to donate to charity and raise global awareness. "All of the dancers are very excited," Lee said. "It's going to be a great competition as well as a way to give back. Students should support the crews and support the world."
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