Dancers battle in clash of the crews
By Michelle Castillo
April 30, 2009 9:01 p.m.
It could be considered the showdown of the year: three campus dance groups competing for the prestige of being known as the best dance crew.
All of the teams, including Samahang Modern, ACA Hip Hop and NSU Modern, have held their own stake in the dance community for their renowned skills in hip-hop and modern dance, defending titles against other schools and winning competitions around the United States.
Everyone has trained for hours, meeting in abandoned parking lots after classes and not leaving until the sun comes up.
But instead of starting a bitter rivalry between opposing members, the groups have banded together in friendly competition ““ and for a great cause.
“I think all the teams are pretty talented, so it’s whoever the judges think will win,” said Randy Lau, a fourth-year electrical engineering student and member of ACA Hip Hop. “We all have different styles.”
UCLA’s Battle Royale, hosted by Omega Sigma Tau, will take place at 9:30 tonight at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. Pre-sale tickets are available from any of the dance crew or fraternity members for $12 and tickets will be sold at the door for $20, with all proceeds going to fund the construction of the Little Tokyo Recreation Center.
Battle Royale was first started in 2005 by David “D” Duong, who graduated from UCLA in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in economics.
An active member of both ACA Hip Hop and Samahang Modern while at UCLA, Duong wanted to bring his love for dance and his desire to see improvements in the Los Angeles community together.
Convincing the members of his fraternity, Omega Sigma Tau, to help sponsor the event, Duong started the first Battle Royale between the three largest dance groups on the UCLA campus.
“There’s always a big debate on which is the best dance group on campus,” Duong said. “This is an event put out there to solidify and instill it as well. Although there is a rivalry, it’s a friendly rivalry. At the end of it, everyone gets together and parties.”
Last year, more than 1,400 UCLA students attended the event. This year, Duong, who is organizing the event, has larger goals.
Hoping to attract even more attendees, Battle Royale has gained sponsors such as PlayMesh and Guitar Hero as well as celebrity judges Katee Shean from season four of “So You Think You Can Dance” and Taeko Carroll and Mike Song of “America’s Best Dance Crew.”
“I have a strong attachment to the dance team at UCLA,” Duong said. “That’s why I love coming back and doing this event.”
Expressing oneself through dance is something that Lau suggests in order to release the stress from school work.
A member of the defending champion’s team, he said the practice time during the week leading up to ACA’s performance requires more hours than a full-time job.
Lau hopes that the growing popularity of dance television shows will encourage students to come down to the event in addition to trying out a few dance moves of their own.
Though he has no plans to pursue a career in professional dancing, Lau said that his hobby of dancing has helped him dispel the myth that engineers do not have social lives outside of studies.
“We come from a wide range of majors,” Lau said. “There’s no specific person that joins a dance team ““ just a range of people. It’s open to anyone.”
Though teams often use a routine that they have used before in competition, fine-tuning points in order to put their best feet forward, Samahang Modern is cooking up something new that they have been preparing since the beginning of spring quarter.
A member of Samahang Modern since her first year, Lauren Camarillo, a third-year linguistics and psychology student, revealed that a new performance inspired by orchestral instruments will debut at the Battle Royale competition.
The group has had the honor of back-to-back victories in 2006 and 2007.
“We have instruments on stage, and each song has a specific instrument for it,” Camarillo said.
“We want to give it our all and entertain the audience.”
No matter who wins, the three teams ““ as well as the new Dance and Spirit Club that will be performing an exhibition piece ““ have two goals in mind: to raise as much money as possible for the youth of downtown Los Angeles and to remind people that dancing is a great form of expression and tons of fun.
“We all support each other, so it’s not as heavy of a competition as some of the other ones we go to,” Camarillo said. “We’re hoping to reclaim the title, though: That’s always the hope.”
