An energetic crowd packed into the Student Union Theater on Sunday evening to find the best student performers in season two of UB Thinks You Can Dance.
After what was considered a tremendously successful premiere last year, the Hip Hop Student Association was looking to expand on that foundation in this year's event.
Isaac Kramer, president of HHSA, had great hopes for a successful competition.
'Last year was the first year we ever did it and it was really [entertaining],' Kramer said. 'With that, our club's goal in every event we do is to make it bigger, so [this year] we started planning earlier and contacting teams earlier.'
The organization gathered a total of 11 dance teams to compete for the $300 cash prize, including three non-competing acts that performed solely to amuse the crowd.
Ranging in size and style, every team came out to show its passion for dance.
'We aim for diversity. Not only [did] we have the UB Step Troupe, but also Latin American SA [was there] doing salsa,' Kramer said. 'There [was] break dancing, more choreographed forms of hip-hop, crumping and our solo exhibition performance, [which was] more modern.'
International Coordinator Andrilisa Read co-hosted the event with Ahmed Jahmi, a junior business major.
'Although it was HHSA, there was still a range of performances. The audience was receptive to all the different styles, from lyrical to belly dancing,' Read said. 'We got a pretty good reaction from crowd. I think everybody was happy.'
Both of the announcers participated in the show, with Read belly dancing and Jahmi performing a freestyle rap.
'We had a good crowd – they were excited, having fun and laughing,' Jahmi said.
The audience was on its feet when it came time for the surprise guest performance.
A group of girls from Big Brothers Big Sisters, trained by HHSA Vice President Brittany Malone, a junior undecided major, took over the stage wearing white gloves on one hand, dancing to 'Thriller,' 'Black or White' and 'Dangerous' in a tribute performance to Michael Jackson.
Audience members even got the chance to show off their own moves in a freestyle dance-off. The last person standing took home $50.
Once the participants settled back into their seats, the crowd had to pick a winner.
As the loud cheering reverberated around the theatre, Kramer chose hip-hop dancers May Cheung and Sakura Lin as the second place winners.
After a thunderous applause, members of the largest group, Eccentric Flow, were named the best dancers at UB for the second year in a row.
Desiree Allen, a junior exercise science major and president of the team, helped to deliver a powerful and acrobatic routine, merging modern and hip-hop styles of dance. She attributes her group's success to dedication.
'It took a lot of [weeks] of hard work,' Allen said.
Crystal Pierce, a junior health and human services major and Eccentric Flow's vice president, was thrilled with the crowd's enthusiasm.
