Duke Dance Revolution

The New Kids on the Block

Senior Johnny Tran left for his DukeEngage trip in Vietnam excited to work in the strategy and marketing department of a nonprofit organization. He returned determined to add a new element to the Duke dance scene.

Upon seeing some local children breakdancing in the streets of Hanoi, Tran slowly joined their crew throughout the summer, despite some obvious obstacles.

"I can't even speak Vietnamese," Tran said. "But I danced with them every day. It really taught me that some things transcend language. I wanted to bring that kind of freestyle dancing to Duke."

The result of Tran's vision is Stop Motion Crew, a team of around 20 who can be seen dancing around West Campus and in the occasional Wilson rehearsal room. Like Tran, many members were drawn to the combination of the flashy and the physical that breakdancing provides.

"It's something people see and it's got that 'wow' factor. It's very impressive," said Jan Ogilvie, track and field jumping coach and the group's faculty adviser. "It will definitely bring a new type of flavor to the Duke dance culture."

In addition to their popping and power moves, Stop Motion Crew strives for a welcoming atmosphere. Two of the team's three weekly rehearsals are open to non-members because the dancers pride themselves on spreading an art form that does not require complex rehearsals.

"You can do it whenever and you don't need a large amount of people," said senior Addison Nuding, the group's vice president. "We'll set up our cardboard and dance anywhere."

The Duke Dhamaka team isn't complaining. The campus' bhangra team showcases its fast-paced movements, which include elements of the modern and old, with students here and across the nation. The tight-knit group, formed in 2002, consists of 16 competing members, eight women and eight men.

Bhangra is probably the most well-known form of Indian dance, originating from the country's northern Punjab region. In a country fragmented into 28 states and hundreds of languages, dance is one way to bring together India's cultures.

"There are a lot of languages in India, and I don't necessarily understand a song completely because I speak a different language," said senior Malika Atmakuri. "But there's still an aspect-whether it's the music or the dance or the people that you're doing it with-you can identify with."

It is no surprise that bhangra teams in the United States are fusing cultures through inducting American elements into their dance. There's an emerging trend for West Coast teams to mix more Americanized elements to their dance, while East Coast groups have kept more traditional aspects, Sheth said.

Though the addition of hip-hop to bhangra adds a stronger beat and higher energy, Dhamaka favors a purer version of bhangra. In maintaining a more traditional flare, it helps students to identify with bhangra's Punjabi and Indian roots, Atmakuri said.

"At a place like Duke, where people are from all over the place, [it's important that] you can identify with a certain culture," she said. "We're focused on one area so people really know what it's about."

Dhamaka's push to bring cultural awareness to campus is matched with recognizable skill. The team has placed with high marks at competitions-most recently, the team snagged second at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Aaj Ka Dhamaka in November. Members hope to qualify next semester for Dhol Di Awaz in California and Bhangra Blowout in Washington, D.C., the largest collegiate competitions of their kind on each coast. Though practice gets intense near competitions, members still have a lot of fun and are willing to put in the time, Atmakuri said.

"There's something about this dance that is just... ridiculous," she said. "The amount of energy, the amount of movement, the amount of exhilaration. I walk off the stage not being able to breathe and people have to carry me off, but it's so worth it in the end."

Less Frill, More Thrill

Junior Teresa Ai is tired of people assuming Chinese dance is as simple as kung-fu moves, fans and ribbons.

So Ai and the Duke Chinese Dance Troupe are out to change that image. The result? A 40-member ensemble with some serious dancing chops.

"[People] think of it as... pretty, dinky, cheesy, happy," she said. "We really have exposed them to other aspects that are really interesting and make it seem more like a legitimate dance style to actual dancers."

When senior Aaron Lee joined DCDT-then known as Chinese Folk Dance-his freshman year, the group had 10 members and only performed very traditional ethnic Han dances, he said.

"Teresa brought a lot of background of dances," Lee said. "Now, DCDT has a broader range of Chinese dances."

Under Ai's direction, the group has shifted its focus from what she describes as "fans and ribbons and all the pretty slow things" to more eclectic dances inspired by China's many ethnic groups.

"We choose a lot of minority pieces and we take some more modernized mainstream dances," she said. "We move away from the stereotypical in our dance choices."

Their repertoire for Awaaz this year reflects this new focus. Their dance arrangement was a medley of Dun Huang, mainstream Chinese dance and Tibetan-inspired styles. Dun Huang is based on Buddhist cave paintings, allowing DCDT to incorporate elements of Indian dance as well.

Lee said the off-the-beaten-path dances they chose embody one of the group's goals: to spread more awareness of how vast Chinese culture actually is.

"We're bringing all these different types of dances, and some people have not even heard of the minorities that we represent-even amongst Asian community," he said.

DCDT has also expanded its range of performance venues. In addition to preparing for the annual Lunar New Year show, the team participated in Awaaz this year and has been preparing hard for its own showcase in April. Collaborating with other groups such as DefMo and Lasya allows them to construct more of a "public image," Ai said.

With the enthusiasm it has created, DCDT has reached its maximum capacity for members and has filled Page Auditorium to the brim, Lee added. It currently doesn't hold auditions, and the troupe would like to keep it that way.

"It's important to me that [the group] stays as a venue for exploration and not something that's competitive," Ai said. "It'd be nice to keep it casual."

The Seasoned Professionals

The Dancing Devils are usually thought of as halftime show entertainment for basketball routs (the good kind) and football blowouts (the bad kind).

But although the team takes its performances at athletic events seriously, the true test comes at the NCA/NDA Collegiate Cheer and Dance Championship every April. Here, the group uses the skills honed on Duke's courts and fields to compete against larger schools like Texas and UCLA. Their performance is a 90-second routine consisting of 30-second segments for palm, hip-hop and jazz dancing.

"It's a completely different style of dance than anything else at Duke," said sophomore Chantel Hopper, a co-captain of this year's team.

Although the group had not gotten past the preliminary round of nationals since 2005, last year's team placed eighth. Members were pleased with the outcome, but this year's squad has made changes they believe will result in an even higher finish. Aside from hiring a professional choreographer, the team has implemented a weekly practice dedicated to strength and conditioning-on top of three dance practices.

"We are just constantly making sure we are improving our physical selves and stamina," said senior Lisa Hafer, the team's other co-captain.

Yet perhaps the most important addition to this year's team is the arrival of their new coach, Alayne Rusnak, who doubles as Duke's cheerleading coach. Both Hopper and Hafer said sharing a coach with the cheerleaders is a tremendous advantage, allowing more communication between the two squads and less confusion on game days.

What's obvious is that despite performing with permanent smiles on their faces, these girls mean business. Being a member of the team is a full-time commitment, often taking priority over other obligations.

"I think practice is more mandatory than class," Hopper said.

Although Duke Dhamaka, DCDT, Stop Motion Crew and the Dancing Devils have differing backgrounds and styles, all share the goal of providing more dancing options on campus. Whether it's on a piece of cardboard in the middle of the plaza, in front of their peers in Page or with thousands of screaming fans at nationals, these teams are each expressing a similar love and passion for dance.

"Dance is an art form that is evolving constantly," Hopper said. "You always have to keep up."

Or get down, for that matter.