Performing arts are inescapable at Northwestern. From the day you arrive on campus, you’ll see flyers on the ground and banners hung up by the Arch advertising upcoming shows. From a capella shows and dance performances to Shakespeare by the Rock, NU is home to a wide variety of quality artists. But don’t be scared – it’s easy and fun to experience what your new school has to offer. You’ve heard about it as soon as you started looking at colleges, and it’s no different here. A capella is a big deal at Northwestern. There are so many groups, it’s sometimes difficult to keep them all straight. There are all-male groups like Freshman 15, all-female groups like Significant Others, and coed groups like Purple Haze. There are also cultural a capella groups like South Asian troupe Brown Sugar and Jewish group ShireiNU. These groups will be out in droves trying to get you to audition, so go for it if you like to sing but just can’t stand the sound of backup music. Want to do more than just sing on stage? Northwestern has an amazing theater program. Therefore, the campus has more than its share of aspiring actors, directors, and the like. There are plays and musicals every weekend, sponsored by the many student theater companies on campus, such as Arts Alliance, Sit & Spin, and WAVE. However you want to get involved with theater on campus, whether by participating or just watching, there are countless opportunities available. But if you want to do something less traditional than Shakespeare, try out these groups. Mee-Ow, NU’s short form improvisational comedy troupe, has graduated SNL favorites Ana Gasteyer and Seth Meyers, among others. Their shows combine “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”-style improv, sketch comedy, and singing with a rock band. Make sure you check these guys out, because after you graduate, you can claim you once saw the moment’s famous comedian make jokes about Dance Marathon. The Titanic Players also do improv, but differ greatly from Mee-Ow. This group specializes in long-form improv, where a group from two to 20 people takes a single suggestion from the audience and explores the idea through various scenes. It’s amazing to see the cast, without ever planning, come up with so much creative material in front of our eyes. NSTV really does it SNL-style, writing, filming, producing, editing and starring in their own sketch comedy show, screened every year in May. Joining NSTV is great for those aspiring to be both in front of and behind the camera. You can check out NSTV on YouTube at youtube.com/nstv.Aside from singing and acting, NU has several quality dance troupes, for majors and non-majors alike. When it comes to dance, the Graffiti Dancers are true Renaissance women (though men are certainly invited to audition). When performing, they morph from hip-hop and lyrical to jazz and tap effortlessly. These dancers are definitely trained, as seen through their impressive choreography and technique.Fusion Dance Company offers quality, entertaining hip-hop dance mixed with tap, breakdancing, and other styles. Their annual shows at Tech Auditorium get audiences active, and with good reason – Fusion always shows audiences a good time.People describe Boomshaka in a variety of ways – a drum and dance ensemble, like Stomp but better, or simply one of the coolest things to see at Northwestern. Boomshaka uses trash cans, lids, stools, sticks, and chains, among other items, to create distinctive rhythms on stage. This troupe is professional-quality, and it shows. They tour each year during spring break and last year they performed at MTVu’s Woodie Awards.Though these lists may seem daunting, they’re just a few of the many diverse performing arts groups on campus. So whether you’re destined for the stage, enjoy working behind the scenes, or just like to see a good spectacle, there’s a group out there for you. Reach Megan Friendman at [email protected].