If you were to ask any member of Refresh Dance Crew, Fusion Dance Company or Boomshaka which of the group’s collaborative shows you should have attended over the weekend, they almost certainly would have told you to go to the Saturday night closing show at 10 p.m.
“We give it our all,” said Fusion dancer and Communication sophomore Indigo Hubbard-Salk. “It’s our last show, the last show for the seniors on the team. And we’re like, ‘We’re gonna go out with a motherf—king bang.’”
With a sold-out crowd of 1,000 in Cahn Auditorium, ReFusionShaka united three of Northwestern’s top dance groups: Fusion, Refresh and rhythm ensemble Boomshaka.
Each performance also featured two or three guest groups.
Every November, ReFusionShaka draws thousands of students and alumni to Cahn for a two-hour set highlighting each group individually with a few full company dances.
The show kicked off with all three teams performing “Uproar” by Lil Wayne ft. Swizz Beats.
Boomshaka member and Communication sophomore Ellie Kim said ReFusionShaka was the first time she has played the drums on stage. Kim said it was initially intimidating to see a fully packed audience Saturday, but nerves quickly turned into excitement as the dancers fed off the crowd’s energy.
“All of the rows were completely filled, and everyone was screaming,” Kim said. “Some Boom alumni were there, and they jumped out of their seats when we came out. It was crazy.”
SESP sophomore Sharmel Gibson attended the late show on Saturday and compared the show to how, in a typical performance, the audience is encouraged to be quiet. At ReFusionShaka, however, the crowd was cheering loudly and singing along.
“It was encouraged to be a part of it and really, step into it,” Gibson said. “I think that just made it so much more fun.”
Ranging from femme to hard-hitting to groovy substyles of hip hop, Hubbard-Salk said ReFusionShaka highlighted the range of talent in each group.
In preparation for ReFusionShaka, Hubbard-Salk said rehearsal time amps up throughout the quarter. Usually, they practice three nights a week for a couple of hours. In the week leading up to the show, the performers practiced every night for upward of five hours.
Hubbard-Salk said she also appreciates students’ ability to participate in different groups across a range of styles.
“There’s actually a lot of overlap,” she said. “It’s really cool to see all my close friends who are on Fusion perform in Refresh and in Boomshaka.”
Hubbard-Salk said she wanted to join Fusion as a freshman because of the immense amount of talent and individuality each dancer brought to the group.
That said, being a part of Fusion is more than just being in a dance group for Hubbard-Salk. She said that since joining Fusion, she has discovered a diverse, close-knit group of friends. One of their traditions for successful auditionees is for each new member to be adopted by a family lineage of returning members.
“It’s such a close and supportive space,” she said. “Everyone wants to be there, everyone loves it, and everyone’s friends with each other.”
Refresh operates slightly differently from Fusion and Boomshaka: Rather than auditioning to be on the team, any dancer can audition for up to four of the pieces per quarter. As such, some dancers performed with multiple teams.
Yet, Kim said that despite it being her first year in a group, she became familiar with a much larger faction of NU’s dance community. She said the social chairs for the different teams set up a buddy system across the different groups, so every performer was able to interact with new people.
“A lot of people got to know each other that they didn’t know before, which is really nice and cool to see,” she said. “It’s just a really cool environment, and everyone brought so much good energy.”
While Gibson said she went to the show to support her friends, she said she was shocked by the number of people she recognized who had never mentioned their dance ability.
“You see this person like, ‘Oh, you’re a physics major, and yet you’re also part of this amazing dance group on campus,’” she said. “It’s fun to see how varied people’s interests are.”
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