A crowd of students gathered in the Robinson Theater on Aug. 26 when Campus Boogie had its annual dance-off.
Campus Boogie is a dance competition where several students go head-to-head to win the Campus Boogie plaque, a $300 prize to spend toward the organization and bragging rights as the “best dance crew” at IU Southeast.
Although it is an annual event, this Campus Boogie differed from previous years.
“Last year, the competition was lodge versus lodge,” Kathy Meyer, orientation and leadership coordinator, said. “This year, we focused on including student organizations, and really anyone could have put a team together. We were just looking for people to come out and have a good time.”
Posters made by the audience for the four participating groups included Alpha Phi, Sigma Kappa, the Multicultural Student Union and the Student Veterans Organization.
Nikki Lee, psychology sophomore, said she’s already thinking ahead to next year. Lee is a member of Sigma Kappa.
“It was so much fun,” Lee said. “Everyone was so great. I’ll probably participate next year, too.”
Sigma Kappa appeared on stage with multi-colored, sequined tops and a Spice Girls soundtrack.
Samantha Vest, elementary education sophomore, said she wanted to do it because it seemed fun, and she wanted to be a part of the Week of Welcome.
Alpha Phi had a dance group that came in second place in the competition.
“This is the first year we’ve participated,” Katey Freiberger, secondary education sophomore, said. “I was excited because a lot of our girls were new to the sorority from the spring semester, so Campus Boogie brought a lot of us together.”
The winner of Campus Boogie, the Student Veterans Organization, encouraged potential members to join and participate next year.
“We wanted to come out and have fun most importantly,” Aaron Neely, psychology junior, said. “We had a great time and hopefully everyone got involved.”
This year, Campus Boogie had various differences, including crowd participation.
“The level of campus energy was vastly different this year,” Josh Kornberg, communications junior and emcee of Campus Boogie, said. “The momentum has really picked up since last year.”
Two semi-professional local groups, Str8 Legit and Soljettes, also participated in the show.
The groups were brought in to add a variety and pump up the campus energy for the event.
“Adding two semi-professional groups drew some excitement,” Meyer said. “When the students saw how great they were, it built a lot of hype.”
Kornberg said he agreed and was able to help the audience interact with the two groups from behind his microphone.
“The professional groups really added a sense of value,” Kornberg said. “They both got a really good response from the crowd, and they provided a good interlude for our student organization dancers.”
Str8 Legit performed two different dances throughout the night.
“Str8 Legit has been together for four years,” Kita Love, manager and coordinator of Str8 Legit, said. “It takes a lot of money for our performances, but we love to dance and put our minds together. Not only do we dance, but we’re also a delivery ministry. We’re trying to dance to keep kids off the streets.”
Soljettes also have a similar goal for its dancers. They performed two routines, as well, and ended with a standing ovation from the crowd.
“We heard that the Soljettes were performing, and, as far as I know, they’re local celebrities,” Laureka Robinson, advertising junior, said.
The Soljettes dancers have even performed on BET.
Keisha Walker, coach and choreographer of the Soljettes, said dance is what the group was originally founded on.
“We came together for the love of dance,” Walker said. “I think they all did great tonight, and they had fun doing it.”
Soljettes started in 1996. They started out with six dancers, and now they have 36 dancers.
Kristen Shields, fine arts junior and member of Sigma Kappa, said the show worked out well. She said it brought a lot of the campus student groups together.
“Campus Boogie helped us get to know about the other organizations on campus,” Shields said. “I can’t wait for next year.”
By MICHELLE JONES
Staff
mdj7@ius.edu