Communication junior Evin Martin crouched in a second-floor dance studio in IM Sports-Circle as Kandace Flanagan walked up and knelt in front of him.
Moving her hands over Martin's head, she gently touched the bottom of his chin with her index finger, slowly lifting him into a standing position to the tune of "Say Yes" by Floetry.
Martin and Flanagan practiced dancing with the Urban Dreams hip-hop dance team earlier this week.
"You can connect more with your partner by doing a slow dance," Flanagan said. "There is so much stuff you can do with slow music, that allows you to be creative."
The no-preference freshman said dancing involves more than moving to music.
"You are putting more motion into it, and it's just like you are telling a story," she said.
The multicultural dance group, started in August 2002 by a group of students including President Ternisa Mallette, brings a new blend of modern and hip-hop dance that represents the urban community.
"When I was thinking of the idea, I was thinking of something different," Mallete said. "I wanted something that was more hip-hop and coed, because I feel like dance itself is more unique and draws a better audience if you have both genders."
The group gives a multitude of dance styles, unique to campus, said advertising senior Marcelle Bryant, the club's co-founder and performance director.
"Urban Dreams gives you a variety of street, modern, hip-hop dances and other things from show to show," she said. "Myself and the other founders believed that we needed another outlet for people to express their ideas through dance."
The group's name is an acronym for its motto: United Races Blended As Notorious Dancers Representing Each Aspect of Modern and Street.
The group emphasizes the importance of multiplicity, Mallette said.
"We really value diversity and we state that in our motto," she said. "Having a diverse group of people makes us more unique."
The group has performed in events such as "Puttin' on the Hitz" and "Fake the Funk," which Martin said was the most exciting.
"There was a lot of pressure when we performed at the Breslin because we wanted to be on point," he said. "It was still a lot of fun, because the crowd was so big."
Communication and theater freshman Dana Noble said some of the dances they perform are more challenging than others.
"I like the kind of dances we do, but sometimes the routines we do are challenging," she said. "The moves have to be coordinated, and your hands, head, feet and body have to move identically with everyone else at the same time. "It just means I have to work harder."
