University teams compete in Hip Hop Dance Off

G.I. Jane soldiers, “Alice in Wonderland” characters and ‘80s dancers did “stanky legg” dance moves and shimmied their shoulders Saturday night in Memorial Hall.

The 4th Annual “Show Us What You Got!” Hip Hop Dance Off, organized by Carolina Union Activities Board’s performing arts committee, featured dance groups from universities across the state.

Presenting the teams with a lively spirit and encouraging members of the audience to dance as well, B-Daht from radio station 102 JAMZ hosted the dance-off.

“I thought it was fun; the crowd made it extremely fun. When you think about all the hard work they put into making moves, it was awesome,” B-Daht said.

The group Couture from N.C. A&T State University won the competition, receiving $300.

Beginning in darkness with flashlights to their faces, the Couture dancers created scenes from the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey” with perfectly timed moves.

“It was freaking amazing-slash-awesome,” said Dre’Sean Williams of Couture.

Dance groups Opeyo! and Misconception and modeling troupe Concept of Colors represented UNC-Chapel Hill.

Placing second and winning $200, Misconception’s dances traveled through time, from 1984 to 2004, with clothing, music and dance to represent the years.

Slowly transitioning through time periods, the dance ended to “Sweet Dreams” by Eurythmics while a loud voice in the background said, “Life comes full circle.”

“I was pleased with the outcomes,” said Victoria Wilburn, a member of Misconception and executive on the CUAB hip-hop board. “Each school brought a unique style of dance and different expressions of dance.”

Concept of Colors modeled outfits of characters from the game Candy Land. They portrayed Lord Licorice, Princess Frostine, Lolly and other characters with candy cane, frosted cupcake and licorice costumes, strutting their stuff and posing for the audience.

Physical Graffeeti, a dance group from UNC-Wilmington, took home third place for its dance capturing the story of “Alice in Wonderland.”

Alice danced her way through all of the obstacles, meeting the evil Queen of Hearts, the White Rabbit and the Cheshire Cat along the way. The dance ended with everyone collapsed at Alice’s feet.

The audience cheered, danced and yelled proudly when teams from their schools took the stage.

“I think it was great, the way people put it together. It was a great thing for UNC to have,” said audience member John Henson, who is also on the men’s basketball team.

Contact the Arts Editor at artsdesk@unc.edu.