The UNYK Multicultural Dance Troupe rocked Centennial Hall on Sunday, April 19, with a high-energy dance show. From the opening song to the closing bows, the “Rockstar” themed performance was filled with fun and attitude. 

Since their kickoff workshop at the beginning of the spring semester, UNYK has been choreographing and practicing the dances they performed Sunday night. As an audition-free student-run group, members aim to make practices feel flexible and fun, with dancers choosing what songs they want to be a part of.

Senior Sydney Shields, president of UNYK, has been dancing since she was a First-Year at Augustana and found the non-competitive nature of the group refreshing.

“[Having no auditions] makes it more of a community, because you have people that have experience and you have people where this is their first time being on a stage … everyone has the opportunity to be a mentor and a student, which I think is a dynamic you don’t get in any other performance space,” Shields said.

All dancers come into UNYK with different levels of experience and comfort when it comes to performing. Some chose to perform one dance at Sunday’s show, while others performed as many as six. No matter the experience level or song difficulty, many dancers said they felt eager to show off their hard work to their peers without the pressure of a judge. 

Song choices and corresponding choreography are designed by students throughout the semester, which means choreography can be tailored to the specific group that is performing. 

Shields said that the student choreographers teach and work with their dancers on an individual level, especially when beginners are in the same performance as dance veterans.

“Something every choreographer understands is … there’s always an alternative to those [difficult] types of moves that still make them look good and feel comfortable on stage without feeling singled out,” Shields said.

Some members get the chance to shine behind the scenes and on stage as well, including UNYK’s stage manager, junior Sara Zogman. Between controlling lights, cueing dancers, helping with quick changes, and performing in four dances herself, Zogman said she had a lot on her plate.

The unique aspects of each performance were reflected in lights, costumes and the preferences of the choreographers.

Zogman said that a common thread of the show was “gritty floor work, hair flips, and sharp hand movements … but even though it’s ‘Rockstar’ themed, it’s very diverse with the song choices and the styles.”

Junior Krystal Lee, vice president of UNYK, choreographed several numbers for the “Rockstar” show, including “Runaway Baby” by Bruno Mars, the opening number. Lee said that, by working with dancers in UNYK, she has been able to develop teaching skills needed for her future career as an educator.

“UNYK has given me a lot of opportunities … it brought a very big leadership role out of me that I am unsure if I had before,” Lee said. “When you’re the choreographer, people depend on you … it challenges me in a really good way.”

The community that UNYK has created was obvious during their Sunday performance. From “Runaway Baby” to “Fame is a Gun” and from hair flips to backflips, the UNYK dancers proved themselves to be rock stars.