Hip-hop crews dance to different styles

Two hip-hop groups on campus have styles that are worlds apart.

At a class for Controlled Chaos, an instructor counts “five, six, seven, eight” before the dancers burst into movement with rhythmic jumps and finger snaps complemented by an occasional shimmy or roll, twisting and jamming to an instrumental hip-hop beat.

At Premium Orange’s rehearsal, club members practice a boys-versus-girls “battle” dance routine as Ludacris’ “Stand Up” blasts from a set of speakers. Male and female dancers acted out a story, depicting a scene of two groups fighting for the win. Throughout the showdown, the women pushed the men off the stage, and groups of men fake-whispered in the background while the women strutted in the foreground.

The members of Premium Orange, which just became active this semester, said they formed the group to fill a gap for both a dance class and an environment for teaching beginners and accommodate a different style.

Controlled Chaos, the older of the two groups, formed in the spring semester of 2011. According to club president Cassandra Wozniak, a junior studying actuarial math, the two students who formed the group have since graduated.

Each club has a smaller core crew of experienced dancers who hold separate rehearsals, perform in public more frequently than the rest of the club and participate in dance competitions. Also, each group hosts classes to teach the entire organization, both crew and non-crew members, a routine to be performed at a show during the school year. Premium Orange’s crew includes five members, while Controlled Chaos’ has 10.

Premium Orange, which will start holding class this week, plans to meet each Monday from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. Controlled Chaos holds a weekly Thursday class from 7:30 to 8:30 pm. and about 30 students attended its class Thursday. Both groups hold classes in the Baierl Multipurpose Room. 

“[Our class is] supposed to be more to help people out one-on-one, and for people to interact with other dancers,” Premium Orange vice president Erik Blumberg said.

Premium Orange uses a nontraditional method of one-on-one instruction geared toward beginners and those not yet comfortable with hip-hop. 

Controlled Chaos, on the other hand, uses a more traditional teaching method, with two core crew members, typically the president and vice president, stationed in the front to lead the class. 

“We like to challenge our members with relatively difficult choreography because we feel that it is important for our members to work towards certain goals,” Wozniak said.

Victoria Smith, a member of Premium Orange, said the group views hip-hop as a genre with “something for everyone.” The group has a different choreographer direct class every week to add variety.

“The perception is, hip-hop is one thing and this is how you do it,” Smith said. “And the reality is, it’s a very creative kind of dance because you can constantly make new movements and put them together.”                             Wozniak said that part of Controlled Chaos’ mission is to share dance with others. 

The group visits other student organizations  — including at least one honors society, other dance organizations and multicultural sororities   — and performs for the groups, according to Wozniak. 

Controlled Chaos crew member Joshua Orange, a sophomore majoring in urban studies, said he likes that the group lets him introduce others to dance.

“It’s awesome when I see people enjoying themselves and expressing themselves in the same way I do,” he said. “It’s nice to kindle that with other people.”