As the lights dim down and curtains open, the opening bassline of Teach Me How to Dougie through the speakers. Next thing you know, the lights switch back on and two groups of students are set on stage ready for a classic backyard dance battle. On one side, Junior Christelle Berry stands ready to go to war on the dance floor. Thursday night at the ROG, the BSU Showcase made its return to the stage, even including an audience, and Christelle made the most of it, flexing her power and pride through her passionate dance moves. 

  As they were finally allowed to perform in person, BSU worked their hardest for almost three months to perform for students. When explaining the preparations for the performance, Christelle mentioned that practices would initially last for about an hour. “As we got closer and closer to the showcase,” she said, “Practices got longer, usually until 4:30 or 5 pm.” The practices all worked out, however, as the actual performance electrified the audience, especially because it was songs familiar to many.

  Simply put, it was a dance battle, similar to a “throwback classics vs. new school” dance off. Christelle was team throwback, dancing to anthems like the Dougie, as mentioned earlier, the Soulja boy, and the tootsie roll. Doing these dances were almost like second nature to her, as they were grooves that many should know. 

  Being a part of BSU since freshman year, performance night was truly a night Christell has been waiting for, especially since they did not have a showcase freshman year, and last year’s showcase was more of a zoom meeting after school. “I felt the vibe in the dressing room, seeing everyone getting ready,” she said, “It was really uplifting and relieving, even after some of the slip ups during practice.”

  Finished with her first official performance, Christelle is already excited for next year’s showcase, as she mentioned that BSU has some leftover ideas that were not used in their performance. All in all, it can be argued that Christelle and her team won the dance battle in a showcase that was executed almost to perfection.