A&E
Dancing in the stars: Nu’s DANCE GROUPS waltz and tango.
By KARA PEELER
daily senior staffer @karapeeler
Get moving and grooving this year by engaging with any of the 20 dance groups on campus. Join a student organization or watch a performance across an array of different styles.
Ahana Dance Project This non-competitive South Asian fusion dance team puts on showcases and various performances throughout the year, aiming to spread its love for South Asian culture. Ahana, a Sanskrit word, refers to the sunlight at dawn and people’s inner light.
B. Burlesque Culminating in an annual Winter Quarter show, B. Burlesque teaches burlesque to students of color, focusing on body and sex positivity.
Ballet Folklórico Mexicano: Ritmo de Mis Ancestros With performances throughout the year on campus and in the Chicago area, this student group showcases Mexican culture with traditional folklórico dances.
Ballroom, Latin and Swing Team BLAST is dedicated to creating an inclusive partner dancing community on campus. It has a competition season from the fall through early spring, and a showcase season from mid-winter through spring. It features classes, workshops, and social dancing ranging from swing and salsa to the
Boomshaka This drum, dance and rhythm ensemble is written, directed and produced by students alone. It puts on high-energy performances combining hip-hop and contemporary dance and percussion throughout the year, including in ReFusionShaka with Fusion Dance Company and Refresh Dance Crew.
Dale Duro Latin Dance Company Since 2018, Dale Duro has shown its appreciation for Latin culture, offering free workshops for different Latin dance styles, community bonding events and an annual spring showcase, h whicfeaturing styles like salsa, bachata, merengue, flamenco, cumbia, reggaeton and more.
Deeva Deeva has blended Indian classical, Bollywood, folk, ballet, lyrical and hip-hop dance elements for more than two decades. The award-winning allfemale competitive dance team’s mission is cultural exchange through dance.
Eight Counts Ballet Company Northwestern’s premier student-run ballet company strives to create an inclusive and welcoming ballet-based community, putting on performances and offering public classes.
Fusion Dance Company Founded in 2003, Fusion is a collegiate dance company centered on a passion for dance — hiphop, jazz, contemporary and more.
Graffiti Dancers Graffiti is one of NU’s oldest ensembles, founded in 1974. Its dances are intended to break boundaries and entertain, combining jazz, modern and ballet. The entirely student-run organization both puts on its own performances and collaborates with other organizations, such as Graffoniks with TONIK Tap.
K-Dance Open to dancers of all experience levels, K-Dance is a student-led group that creates a community around dancing for K-Pop. There are opportunities for both casual and auditioned members, ranging from workshops to performances at campus events like Celebrasia and more.
New Movement Project
students with pole dancing classes and performances, creating a safe community to explore strength and sensuality.
Refresh Dance Crew Hip-hop group Refresh welcomes those from all skill levels to open sessions and classes, along with an auditioned team for shows. The Refresh family’s core values are respect, family, and hustle — inspired by a love for dance.
Steam Heat Dance Company As a musical theatre dance company, Steam Heat both preserves original choreography and creates its own.
TONIK Tap
NMP is a dance board that wants to offer students opportunities to expand as dancers. Its main events include hosting residencies and workshops, sponsoring individual projects and producing the Fall Dance Concert.
TONIK Tappers love to create rhythm. The tap ensemble choreographs its own performances for two on-campus shows, along with other Chicago area performances throughout the year.
NU Bhangra Dance Team
Tufaan Entertainment
This coed team performs traditional Punjabi folk dance to promote awareness of Punjabi culture.
This Bollywood fusion dance competition organization seeks to raise awareness of South Asian culture through entertainment.
NU Raas A competitive Raas and Garba team, NU Raas performs dance from the Indian state of Gujarat. Its 15-25 members participate in a competitive season during Winter Quarter and showcase an annual Raas Spring Show.
Polerize Polerize’s goal is to empower and educate
Typhoon Dance Troupe Typhoon highlights dances — popular, classical, ethnic and contemporary — from East and Southeast Asia. The dance group aims to use the art of dance to spur increased appreciation for the regions’ diverse cultures. karapeeler2025@u.northwestern.edu
sing some nep-tunes in nortjwestern a capella By JOYCE LI
daily senior staffer @joyycee_li
For incoming Wildcats, joining an a cappella ensemble can be a great way to start the year on a high note. But with fall auditions taking place the second week of the school year and so many groups to choose from, you might have ‘treble’ deciding which one to join. So, here’s a brief introduction to NU’s 12 a cappella groups! With so much variety in their goals, competitiveness and song choice, one is sure to strike the right chord with you.
specializes in blending Western and South Asian music in their arrangements , such as a mashup of Taylor Swift’s “willow” and Roop Kumar Rathod’s “Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai.” Brown Sugar does not compete, but puts on shows in Winter and Spring Quarters and at other NU events.
recently taking home awards for Best Soloist and Best Choreography in 2023. The group also puts on quarterly concerts and tours annually, with plans to go to Costa Rica this year.
Soloist, Outstanding Arrangement and Outstanding Choreography. The group also performs in oncampus shows, gigs around the Chicago area and on annual domestic or international tours.
ShireiNU
THUNK
Extreme Measures
ShireiNU is NU’s Jewish a cappella group, and sings a variety of musical genres, including Hebrew pop. ShireiNU does not compete, but holds quarterly shows and performs at both on- and off-campus events, including a Chicago Bulls game this April.
Founded in 1993, THUNK is NU’s oldest co-ed a cappella group. The group holds at least two concerts a quarter, performs at special events in the Chicago area and travels to Cape Town, South Africa every other year for music education volunteer work.
Significant Others
Treblemakers
NU’s only a cappella group exclusively for female and nonbinary voices, Significant Others performs pop music in quarterly themed shows and does not compete.
Treblemakers are NU’s East Asian-interest a cappella group and the third group that competes in the ICCAs. The group has quarterly concerts and went on tour in California this spring. They perform music in multiple languages, including English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean and Tagalog.
Extreme Measures is a co-ed group that stages multiple performances per quarter. While they do not compete, they often tour the Chicago area and beyond to perform at charity and fundraising events. EM’s latest EP, “Denim,” will be released on streaming platforms this summer.
Asterik
Freshman Fifteen
The only all-male group on campus, Asterik — spelt with a missing “S” — is described on their website as “a group of guys who love to sing and have a good time.” This non-competitive group stages a themed show every quarter and regularly collaborates with other groups, including Significant Others. Known for their “fratty” vibe, Asterik’s previous show themes include “Rizzosaurus Rex” and “Too Hot to Handle.”
Despite what their name might suggest, Freshman Fifteen consists of more than 15 members, and they’re not all freshmen. The green bowling shirtclad ensemble has quarterly concerts, occasionally releases albums and arranges annual “breakdown” medleys of popular songs of the year. Formerly an all-male group, they opened up auditions to nonmale identifying students in 2021.
Brown Sugar Brown Sugar is Northwestern’s premiere South Asian-interest a cappella group. The group
Soul4Real The only Black student a cappella group on campus, Soul4Real’s mission is to expose the NU community to historically Black musical genres, such as R&B and soul. They have concerts during Winter and Spring Quarter and do not compete.
Purple Haze
The Undertones
One of NU’s three competitive a cappella groups, Purple Haze participates biannually in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, most
Another competitive group, the Undertones won the 2022 ICCA Great Lakes quarterfinal, where they were also given Special Awards for Outstanding
X-Factors This non-competing, co-ed group is known for wearing pink at every performance and guaranteeing each member a solo every year. X-Factors put on multiple shows every quarter and occasionally tour domestically to perform and run workshops at high schools. joyceli2025@u.northwestern.edu
intergalatic arts scene in the city By KARA PEELER
daily senior staffer @karapeeler
If you’re looking to immerse yourself in the arts in Evanston and beyond, you’re in luck. The area is chock-full of places to go for all things arts, from live performances to museums. Don’t be afraid to venture off campus and take part in Evanston and Chicago’s art scene.
Music Evanston SPACE is a live music venue, with concerts available most days. Tickets vary in prices. Another performance venue, Studio5, was opened by Northwestern alumni Béa (Communication ’78) and Steve Rashid (Bienen M.M. ’83). Studio5
offers music, dance and theatrical performances. The city of Evanston also hosts the Starlight Concert and Movie series, with dates through Nov. 5 and Oct. 7, respectively.
Theatre Evanston is home to multiple professional theaters. The Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre, which opened in 1979, centers around African American and African Diaspora-centered storytelling. Formerly known as Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, Theo is a professional, not-for-profit theatre focusing on celebrating humanity and building community via the art of performance. The 2nd Act Players produces original theatre works, focusing on the events in the “2nd act” of people’s lives, like divorce or heart disease.
Art and Museums The Evanston Art Center is a nonprofit that has galleries free to the public. There are also public events, such as the annual Winter Art & Craft Expo. The Block Museum of Art on NU’s campus is also free for all, with art exhibitions, artist talks, symposiums and more. Evanston is also home to speciality museums — with purchase of a ticket — such as The American Toby Jug Museum or the Halim Time & Glass Museum. The Mitchell Museum of the American Indian showcases Indigenous history, culture and art. The museum offers ongoing exhibitions, along with artist spotlights across storytelling, music and the visual arts. NU also has museum partnerships with the Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, so all students receive free
admission if they present a Wildcard at the ticket counter. One of the most popular art organizations in the area is Evanston Made, a community nonprofit dedicated to supporting artists. Evanston Made hosts a multitude of events ranging from maker’s markets to artist shops and more.
Dance Adults are able to take classes at the Evanston Dance Center, with classes costing about $17 or $18 a session. In addition to Studio5, the Evanston Dance Ensemble puts on several productions each year, such as “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” EDE also created ede2, which brings the studio’s productions to underserved areas. karapeeler2025@u.northwestern.edu