Who would have guessed that UCSD is home to the largest hip-hop dance competition on the entire West Coast? From our thriving pool of student organizations, the Multi-Asian Student Association and the Second-to-None dance team (220) joined forces in 1999 to create the Fusion dance competition, the former devoted to preserving the togetherness of a people and the latter to livening hip-hop’s competitive spirit. Put them together, and you’ve got some kick-ass dance moves.
U(CSD) Got Served: Fusion, sponsored by the Multi-Asian Student Association, has grown into the biggest hip-hop dance competition on the West Coast, now larger than ever for its seventh year on campus.
This will be Fusion’s seventh year raising RIMAC Arena’s roof, and the crowd isn’t getting anything but fatter. Last year, more than 3,000 hip-hop enthusiasts showed up to witness the spectacle (a 400 percent increase since its debut), including TV stations, radio DJs and Web site representatives. With such an explosive audience upsurge in the past few years, the hype is only expected to keep on skyrocketing.
“A lot of different people are becoming more involved because Fusion is growing,” said MASA Fusion coordinator Cherry Duong, at the head of the cultural awareness half of the show. “We’re expecting a more diverse crowd this year.”
Only the very best California dance teams are selected to perform, as chosen by the event’s student coordinators. “First we send them an invitation,” said 220 dancer Kei Tsukamoto. “Then they send us a video of their set, and then one of their practice.” Among the nine chosen competitors this year are the twice-victorious UC Irvine Chinese Association Dance Crew, who won in both 2004 and 2005. Four judges with professional dance experience — including one of Gwen Stefani’s Harijuku Girls — will present the trophy for 2006. Expect flashy light shows, a deafening beat, and the slickest stage full of poppers ever to rattle the University of California.
Accompanying stiff competition will be a scattering of exhibition acts, including professional San Diego dance team Culture Shock, UCSD martial artists and some babe-alicious Polynesian entertainers to boot. Event coordinators 220 will also be performing only on exhibition — “For us to compete would be kind of like throwing our own talent show,” said Tsukamoto.
Though Fusion is an Asian-directed event (the largest one on campus), its goal is not to be exclusive but rather to help the local community recognize different aspects of Asian-American culture, in this case hip-hop. And at a university where 37 percent of the student population belongs to such a culture — a 10 percent increase since 1995 and now the clear majority — it’s right time everybody started appreciatin’.
Fusion will take place at 6 p.m. on April 9 at RIMAC Arena. Tickets are $13 at the UCSD Box Office and $15 at the door.
