Dancing on the small screen, three students grace MTV request show

Sporting a bright green "Rush PKE" T-shirt, Christopher Jensen '01 stole the spotlight on MTV last week.

Not simply a fraternity-advertising ploy, Jensen — along with Sharon Park '02 and Julie Roman '02 — had been selected as a member of the set cast of MTV's new hip-hop request show "Direct Effect," which airs live Monday through Friday at 5:30 p.m.

"Direct Effect," hosted by Teck of "The Real World: Hawaii," offers its viewers a choice of hip-hop videos and allows them to vote directly over the Internet. The show then airs the voter selections.

Jensen, Park and Roman — after reading about a casting call for the show in Backstage magazine — went in for open auditions in New York City early last month.

"We saw a long line outside the MTV studio so we assumed it was the line for 'Direct Effect,' " recalled Park, who is vice president of Princeton's BodyHype and has a classical ballet background. "We stood there for a really long time, and it turns out it was the line for 'Say What Karaoke' auditions."

Fortunately, an MTV official cleared up the confusion before the three were required to sing.

During the audition, the three Princetonians were instructed to dance freestyle to various hip-hop songs and were judged on energy, attitude and interaction with fellow dancers.

On the show, the upbeat mood the dancers create helps complement the videos being aired.

"Our job is to keep the show energetic and to make the atmosphere like a party," said Park, who appeared as an extra in the summer ballet movie "Center Stage."

Similarly, Roman said, "['Direct Effect'] is set in a party atmosphere and shows people having fun."

The dancers are not committed to dance on the show on a regular basis and can work on a flexible schedule — an understandably important factor for the three students.

And the trips to New York to tape the show do require a certain level of effort from Jensen, Park and Roman.

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"[Taping] starts around 3:45, so we have to leave campus around 1:00 . . . then we get out at around 7:00 and get back to Princeton around 9:00," said Park, explaining the demanding time commitment for taping even just one show.

"Most of the other dancers are from the city," Park noted, adding that there were "not that many other college students" on the set cast. Park described the non-Princeton dancers on the set as very stylish.

Though the position is unpaid, the set cast enjoys many benefits from performing on the MTV show.

"The exposure is good," said Jensen in an e-mail. "Last week I chilled with Nelly and Ludicrous, which was a lot of fun."

Also a member of Bodyhype, Jensen's dance background includes training with the Westlake Dance Center and studying with choreographer Kari Lee.

Roman danced throughout high school and has taken several dance classes at Princeton. "I love dancing and [the show] sounded really fun," she said.

The first show featuring Jensen, Park and Roman aired Sept. 26, and the three dancers plan to return to New York soon for subsequent tapings of "Direct Effect."