After three years of performing at Willkie Quad, the annual dance event “Set It Off” is leaving campus and taking the Buskirk-Chumley Theater stage at 5 p.m. Sunday. The showcase, presented by Indiana’s Hip Hop ConnXion, will feature performances by a diverse collection of dance groups representing hip-hop, jazz, breakdance and ballroom styles. Senior Natalie Wenzler, co-director of the IU branch of Hip Hop ConnXion, said she is excited about bringing this mix to Kirkwood Avenue. “We really wanted to do Buskirk-Chumley so that the community could start really seeing what we do,” Wenzler said, “and the campus too, because bridging that gap is really difficult sometimes.” Until now, the event has taken place in Willkie Quad, which senior Kristin Tanzillo, co-director of Hoosier Dance, said was less than ideal. “The Buskirk-Chumley has a bigger stage, bigger audience and more comfortable seats,” Tanzillo said. “They had completely packed Willkie, so now people won’t decide not to come for that reason.” With that problem fixed, and with a closer tie to the community, Wenzler said this show is for the performers and the dance community as well as the rest of the audience. “We’ll do various shows on campus and everything to get our name out, but what we really put a lot of effort into is preparing for our showcase,” Wenzler said. “There’s not many dance concerts for hip-hop and other dance teams around, so we really like to host this event so all of us can get together as one and really have a concert just for us.” Junior Wes Owens, a member of both Hip Hop ConnXion and an IU breakdance group, said he notices the same sentimental difference between this and other shows. “We’ve performed at stuff like Ludacris and the Pacers game,” Owens said, “but this is special in that it’s in our community. It’s like we work all year and then bring this show to Bloomington so they can see the fruits of our labor.” Like a personal progress report, Wenzler said the performers want to show how much they improved. “We’ve put so much effort and hard work into it – we really just want to show people what we’ve accomplished year to year,” Wenzler said. “It’s a good stepping stone for each year, to see each ‘Set It Off’ get better.”
