For most Brown students, the second semester on campus means Spring Weekend, (hopefully) warmer weather and finishing up one more year of academics. For student dancers, spring brings increased rehearsal time, photoshoots, recordings and weeks of promoting their companies all over campus.
Springtime is showtime, and there are plenty of performances to look forward to this semester.
Fusion Dance Company
Fusion Dance Company, Brown’s oldest student-run dance group which showcases mostly contemporary choreography, will have its 40th spring show on Feb. 24 and 25 at 7 p.m. in Alumnae Hall.
According to Company Manager Isabel Lukas ’24, the upcoming show will focus on “the theme Nebula to represent the creation of new things while holding onto our legacies,” she said.
Fusion’s spring show will feature 20 pieces in total, with 18 newly choreographed dances, one bringback dance staged by the new members and one alumni-choreographed dance. The performance will also feature a collaboration with campus hip-hop dance group IMPULSE, organized by Fusion member and IMPULSE’s Co-director Aziza Alfred ’25.
The main challenges Fusion faced during its preparation process were synchronizing choreography with members who studied abroad in the fall and finishing rehearsals without dance camp. “Still, I’m amazed at how little work I had to do since everyone is organized, and a lot of dance groups gave us rehearsal spaces since they understand that we’re the first show,” Lukas said.
Fusion’s performance will be followed by two shows from the IMPULSE dance company on March 1 and 2 at 7 p.m. in Alumnae Auditorium.
Mezcla
Mezcla is a Brown-RISD Latin dance group highlighting a wide variety of styles, from traditional folkloric dances like Mexican folklore and Peruvian dances to new jazz and hip-hop choreography. The group is holding its spring performance on March 8 and 9 at 7 p.m. in Alumnae Hall.
Ana Perez ’24, co-director of the company, described the new show as an accumulation of all the group’s growth. “We can’t reveal our theme yet but keep an eye out for it the Sunday before the show,” Perez said. The group will perform 17 pieces, including fully integrated collaborations with Oja and Badmaash.
“I’m a senior so it’s been very emotional to perform our last show. We’ve seen the group grow so much since my sophomore year,” Perez added. After the performance, the group plans to dance at on-campus Latinx events.
Attitude Dance Company
Attitude, a multi-style, self-choreographed dance group, will perform on April 5 and 6 at 7 p.m. in Alumnae Hall. According to Attitude’s Co-director Emma Berman ’24, the company can perform “anything the dancers choreograph.”
Since the Student Activities Office no longer allows exceptions to their University Breaks policy, Attitude’s dancers were not able to have dance camp this year and have been holding extra weekend rehearsals, which Berman described as “tiring, but rewarding.”
After the show, Attitude members hope to try different styles as a company and work on their techniques. They will try to host as many open workshops as possible on Tuesday nights from 9-10 p.m. in the Ashamu Dance Studio.
Daebak
K-pop dance group Daebak will host its spring show at Salomon DECI Hall on April 5 and 6. “This performance is slightly different,” said Co-director Camille Zhang ’24. The group will collaborate with other dance groups, including IMPULSE, East Asian dance group Moli and step group Divine Rhythm.
“People often see K-pop as a limited style, yet even within the K-pop industry there are many different styles,” Zhang said. “So, we want to show ourselves more as a dance group rather than strictly a K-pop group.”
Daebak is currently hosting a dance camp to allow non-members to participate in their show. Around 70 non-members have signed up and are currently getting ready to perform.
“Everything from the very start is for the spring show,” Co-director Michael Jia ’25 said. The group prepared 40 dance pieces across both show days. “It is a bit stressful, but it is great to see people evolve and have fun while practicing,” he said.
After the performance, the co-directors plan to make dance covers to upload on their YouTube channel. They also want to host more community-wide social events.
Oja Modern African Dance Company
Oja, Brown’s Modern African Dance Company, will perform its spring show on April 13 at 7 p.m. in the RISD auditorium. Company Co-director Jenee Anekwe ’24 is excited to present more African dance styles. “Before, our dance style was primarily West African, but now we’ve got a lot more South African Dance, Congolese dance style, Caribbean dance style and even some hip-hop elements,” Anekwe said.
The show will feature over 15 dances, but the details of its theme and collaborations are yet to be released.
“As a senior, this is my ‘last rock’ kind of thing. It’s amazing to see that we made it to the same level we have with less university support now,” Anekwe said.
After the show, Oja will hold at least one workshop and will also perform off-campus.
Abhinaya
Abhinaya is Brown’s South Asian classical dance team. The group performs ancient traditional styles including Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Odissi and Kathak. The dance group will have its spring show, “7 Deadly Sins,” on April 13 in Salomon DECI.
“For most South Asian classical dancers, these have been art forms they have trained in since early childhood, so it’s important to many of us to have a community on campus that shares a love and passion for it,” said Team Captain Neil Shah ’25.
After the “7 Deadly Sins,” Abhinaya plans to collaborate with Brown Badmaash and perform at their spring show.
Tempo
Tempo is a dance group without a set genre. “We have many split styles with Caribbean influences, hip-hop, heels and sexy jazz,” said Nick Li ’25, the group’s co-director. On April 19, Tempo will host its spring show in Alumnae Hall.
The performance will feature at least 30 pieces, each being 2-3 minutes long. The group has been busy choreographing with other companies. “We’re currently doing a dance with IMPULSE, as many dancers are in both,” Li said. Tempo will also collaborate with Moli.
“This is my first year co-directing and it’s been a big change,” Li added. “But putting on a show is a feeling you’ll never experience anywhere else.”
Tempo plans to host another round of spring auditions after the show and more informal workshops for members of the Brown community.
Synergy Dance Company
Synergy Dance Company, the multi-style dance group founded in fall 2022, will perform in the Movement Lab in Lindeman Performing Arts Center on April 19 and 20. Company Co-founder Isabella Delionado ’26 described the show as a “general exploration of choreography where members can do everything they have in mind.”
The company currently has around 10 completed pieces. They will perform three ballet pieces choreographed by Delionado herself, a jazz choreography by the company’s Co-founder Chidi Olewuenyi ’26 and a contemporary piece. Though Synergy has not finalized all of its dances, the co-founders are trying to balance between styles.
Despite the challenges in scheduling a rehearsal space, Delionado is excited about the group’s first spring show. “Since I’ve only done solos and never a group ballet dance, I’m excited about exploring a larger ballet dance choreography,” she said.
Divine Rhythm
Divine Rhythm is Brown’s only step team on campus. “Our dance form is rooted in Black culture and the pride of being Black,” said Co-captain Angela Snider ’24.
The group will hold its spring show on April 28 at Alumnae Hall. Currently, the dance group is working on over 20 pieces of original choreography.
“We’re also so excited to collaborate with Daebak and we will also be performing at their show on April 6,” Snider said. The group will perform two pop songs at Daebak’s show: “Crazy Form” by Ateez and “LALALALA” by Stray Kids.
“It’s exciting because the Crazy Form has a lot of black influence, and LALALALA has beats influenced by Afro culture,” she explained.
The group has doubled its membership recently. “I’m looking forward to working with new members,” Snider said. “It’s always great to see them so excited to learn the moves.”
After the show, the group will hold auditions for people who want to join next fall. “We will also watch the (recording of the) show and have a good laugh at small mess-ups,” she said.
Badmaash
Brown Badmaash is Brown’s South Asian fusion dance team. According to Executive Board member Neil Shah ’25, the group combines popular classical and folk styles from South Asia, such as Bollywood, Bhangra and Garba, with Western styles like hip-hop and contemporary.
The group will hold its next performance on May 4 in Alumnae Hall, with collaborative performances at Mezcla Latin Dance and Brown Abhinaya’s spring shows.
Badmaash has already completed four pieces and will be putting together at least 10 more for their show, Shah said. This year, in particular, Basmaash is placing a strong emphasis on excitement, emotions and nostalgia in their dances.
“One of the best aspects about being a cultural fusion team is people get to bring their own cultural backgrounds and artistic visions to practice,” Shah added.
Badmaash is hoping to host auditions at the end of the semester.
Brown Ballet Company
Brown Ballet Company, founded in the fall of 2022, is an entirely ballet-focused group, performing a variety of classical, neoclassical and contemporary styles. The company will have its first live spring performance at the end of the semester.
According to Co-directors Claudia Spelman ’24, Sydney LeSon GS and Elise Petit ’25, the performance will have two separate acts. Act I is an original ballet set to Gustav Holst’s “The Planets.” Act II will consist of student choreography and restagings of excerpts from famous classical ballets. The show will also include a piece performed by members of the company’s weekly intermediate class.
The co-directors allocated a lot of time and effort toward logistical organization and communication for the upcoming rehearsals. “Finding studio spaces on campus that are safe for ballet, like Marley floors and ballet barres, as a newer organization is always a challenge,” Spelman said.
After the spring show, Brown Ballet will devote their time to planning their upcoming fall production of the “Nutcracker.”
Additional reporting by Cavan Agatone
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly named one of the co-directors of Brown Ballet Company as Elise Haulund ’27. The correct name should be Elise Petit ’25. The Herald regrets the error.
Rebecca Weng is a Senior Staff Writer for Arts and Culture. She is a freshman from Guangzhou, China studying English and CS-Econ.
