The Arts Section started off the year 2018-19 with a bang! A new event titled “STEP IT UP – Dance Battle 2018” was
introduced to the student body.
It was held on October 12th 2018 where the participants competed against each other as crews of 2-3 people or individuall
y to win the DANCE CHAMPION TROPHY. The judges for the event were Melissa Halliman, Ruby Ryland and Aldrich Adonis Furtal.
The buzz of excitement could be felt in the crowd as soon as the promo video was out! It was a highly successful event led by the Arts Section Chief Dhriti Singh along with the section members Precious, Alex, Rani, Chanditha, Nicholas.
The event took place in the CMU Amphitheatre and even amidst the cold the turnout was great . The vibe was exhilarating as the crowd cheered to the music played by DJ Abdul and the excitement created by our energetic Emcees Amal, Dikshita and Jude only added to the competitive yet enjoyable atmosphere.
This event allowed the talented dancers of CMU to have their own spotlight among the various performing arts. Dances ranged from graceful Indian classical moves to energetic afrobeats from Nigeria, with a mind blowing dance enactment to the funky hip hop beats . There was also a bit of Bollywood as well as some breathtaking gospel music and the dance battle no doubt heightened the diversity and complexity of dance forms at CMU!
There were two rounds- Showcase and Freestyle, the winner was chosen as the one with the highest score tallied from both rounds. Alpha took the trophy home as he wowed the judges and the audience in total silence with his glorious dance enactment. The runner up was Chanditha with her beautiful Indian classical moves perfectly choreographed. The second runner up was Grace who delivered a captivating performance while dancing to a slow gospel tune. Her performance was filled emotion and carefully executed hand movements.
There was another set of awards for the category of best freestyle solo and crew. Contestants had to freestyle and battle against each other to win this award. For solo , Alpha and Grace had the highest score in freestyle round 2 and so they directly moved to the finale. Chanditha and Jobayer battled it out for the bronze in which he gave a sizzling hip hop inspired, break dance performance but Chanditha proved she has truly mastered her craft and she can dance to any beats.
Alpha and Grace moved to an epic showdown battle where Alpha danced to some robotic moves and showed off his flexibility whereas Grace was quick and always on beat with the music. She pulled off the tough “Matrix” move and won many fans but Alpha proved himself as the winner.
For the crews, there was the trio of siblings Ann, Stella and Michael who danced to a medley of Afro-pop songs and moved onto the finale.
The remaining two crews battled it out to reach the final showdown. Megha and Kartik put on a show stopping performance and this dynamic duo put on a good fight but then the trio of all girls crew comprised of Oviya, Shalini and Neena performed a very sizzling performance and moved onto to the finals.
The trio of all girl crew took the title of Best freestyle crew home.
Overall the event was a success! The Arts Section hopes that the dancers would be prepared to battle it out next year with more energy, new varieties and more complex routines! See you next year !
Report by :Dhriti Singh (Chief of Arts Section)
Edited by : Melissa Halliman ( President)
Photography by : Ishwar Chaudhary & Prasoon Vasistha (Members of Public Relations Section )
