‘Encounter Culture’ brings the party to the stage

Editor’s Note: This article is a review and contains subjective opinions, thoughts and critiques. The best party held on campus Saturday night was at Dinkelspiel Auditorium. Student dance show EnCounter Culture (ECC), hosted every winter quarter by hip hop team DV8, featured performances by 13 groups. According to DV8 dancer Brianna Freeman ’25, the show sold out in four minutes after tickets went on sale last week.  The show was an explosion of movement, talent and fun. Well-known acts like Alliance and Basmati Raas impressed as always, but some of the newcomers made the biggest splash. Freestyle dance club FreeFlow, which formed last year, performed for the first time Saturday. They lived up to their name with a relaxed, expressive act composed of individual performances in different dance styles. The result was captivating and fresh, bringing a personal, improvisational energy to their act.  “We’re not trying to look like everybody else,” said FreeFlow dancer Sharon Wambu ’24.  And it shows — this club will certainly be one to watch. Heels group Sirens, founded last year by a former DV8 dancer, performed a crowd-favorite routine. Their choreography to Beyoncé’s “Freakum Dress” was particularly strong, with formation changes and levels making good...