CU Generation Virtual Showcase Highlights Asian American Cultural Diversity With ‘GENESIS'

By Liz Radway, Columbia Daily Spectator

April 27, 2021, 9:00 AM

Have you ever seen someone twerk to a rap cover of “Baby Shark”? If you haven’t, you have no idea what you are missing out on. This, dancing Teletubbies, love stories, TikToks, and more were all a part of Columbia University Generation’s latest dynamic show.

CU Gen premiered its annual performance, “GENESIS,” over Facebook Live on April 17. The dance group was founded in 2010 with roots in Asian culture, but it has since grown to encompass an expansive hip-hop style.

Traditionally, CU Gen clusters its performances into narrative pieces called sets, each with their own story or theme directed by an individual choreographer. Despite its virtual format, this year’s show still featured sets that detailed love stories, depictions of nature, and even TikTok dances. Throughout the evening’s performances, sets ranged from contemporary hip-hop to chair dances in heels. Each set was entertaining and engaging, making swaying one’s hips or tapping one’s feet along to the music irresistible.

Starting the show, masters of ceremony Kristine Lin, BC ’23, and Jessica Peng, CC ’22, enthusiastically set the tone for the night with brightly lit smiles. They explained how their showcase aimed to raise money for the Heart of Dinner, a charity that fights against food insecurity for Asian American elders in New York City.

This celebration of Asian American cultural diversity was present throughout the showcase, which featured a set entirely dedicated to K-pop. Directed by Bonnie Wang, SEAS ’21, and Audrey Leong, CC ’22, the set featured a large cast of dancers. According to its directors, music was selected by compiling some of the team’s favorite K-pop songs, such as “Lovesick Girls” by Blackpink and “Russian Roulette” by Red Velvet.

For this set, the screen began flashing an assortment of pastel tones, setting the mood for the piece to follow. Dancers with pastel-colored outfits began to fill the screen, with many sporting white, pleated skirts and flowy tops. They performed moves straight out of K-pop videos, executing each step with the same subtlety, allure, and bounce as the original superstar performers. As the songs became more intense, costumes turned from pastel and airy skirts into fierce black pants. As the dancers changed costumes, the sets changed with them. .

Sets ranged in variety, from a TikTok set featuring dances choreographed to J.LO’s Super Bowl dance and more. Another set entitled “Parallels,” choreographed by the CU Gen Artistic Director Kevin Wang, CC ’22, explored partnering in a world of online dance. Partners appeared to interact with each other from entirely different locations, creating the illusion of switching places by seamlessly exiting and reentering the frame from opposite sides.

The showcase also featured performances from other Columbia dance groups including Sabor, Onyx, Raw Elementz, and Columbia University Bhangra. A CU Gen alumni performance was also featured, with alumni performing together in matching black CU Gen shirts both online and in person.

The showcase’s finale honored graduating seniors by displaying several humorous photos of each senior from their time in CU Gen. Through the comments and reactions of the team, it became evident that each senior was truly a member of the CU Gen family.

The five seniors who performed then started their set on campus to the tune of High School Musical’s “I Don’t Dance” while dressed head-to-toe in Ryan Evans-esque baseball uniforms. Halfway through the song, they changed into fully decked-out costumes of characters from the film, including Sharpay and Gabriella, acting out their roles through their facial expressions and dancing. Contrary to the song lyrics, they proved that they do in fact dance.

As the song changed to a rap rendition of “Baby Shark,” the seniors danced for the audience, defying the traditional dance to this children’s song with their own grounded hip-hop style. Instead, they dropped into squats and splits.

The seniors emerged for their final song dressed as Teletubbies. Each dancer made the humorous choreography their own while embodying the light-heartedness of the show. This set ended each senior’s time at Columbia and CU Gen with a bang.

CU Gen’s “GENESIS” showcase, which is still available for viewing on the group’s Facebook page, might just entertain viewers far more than any PrezBo email.

Staff Writer Liz Radway can be contacted at liz.radway@columbiaspectator.com. Follow Spectator on Twitter @ColumbiaSpec.

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