The Elem3nt dance team had their third annual showcase Friday night in 101 Olscamp.
Their showcase, “Late Nights with Elem3nt,” featured guest performances from fellow University students Malika Hunt and Kat, B.A.D Girls Crew, the BG High Flyers, Charisma Dance Team and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.
The showcase included sensual dance, hip hop, jazz, modern and contemporary pieces.
It showed “all parts of us in one” and “covered all of the aspects of being an Elem3nt dancer,” said Kezia Reynolds, a senior double majoring in marketing and management information systems and president of Elem3nt.
The showcase was meant to show what the group did each year, and to bring in other dance teams from other schools, she said.
“We’re trying to give the campus a different perspective,” Reynolds said.
Sophomore students Cheyla Bradley, a Creative Writing major, and Nadia Johnson, a nursing major, came to support Bradley’s cousin who was one of the performers.
Johnson said she had been looking forward to hearing one of Beyoncé’s songs, while Bradley said she wanted to see how “different the nine scenes” were.
When asked whether or not they would want to become part of Elem3nt Bradley and Johnson declined.
“No,” Johnson said. “It is not because we don’t like them, we just can’t dance. We have no rhythm.”
“Elem3nt is not for everyone,” Reynolds said. “It’s a big commitment, we practice three times a week.”
Originally there were 22 dancers, now there are 14 dancers. Reynolds feels that true passion for the team is shown in the second semester.
“That’s when you realize … I can’t really do this, or my grades are dropping,” she said.
The group began in 2007 as Eccentricity; however, they realized the name was not something they wanted to stick with.
“We realized … you know, that’s not really a good name for us. It didn’t really speak to us,” she said. “It didn’t really highlight what we do.”
The group felt the name Elem3nt “would be great, with a three in the middle” of the word to replace one of the E letters. Reynolds said.
The three in their name is not meant to exhibit something unique, it is to show a common ground between all 14 members of the group.
“We all have three things in common, we live, we love and we dance.” Reynolds said. “I think that’s the main thing that brings us together … as one.”
“That’s why we’re Elem3nt, ‘cause we share all the elements together,” she said.
