Dynamic ‘Inglourious Breakers’ hits all the right steps

This weekend, sympoh Urban Arts Crew presents “Inglourious Breakers,” featuring diverse choreography and movement that showcases the crew’s impressive tricks and unforgettable personalities.

“Inglourious Breakers” starts off with a quirky filler choreographed by Hoang Tran ’12. While the breakers don’t pull out all the stops in this piece, saving their more exciting moves for later in the show, it introduces both SYMPOH’s dance style and the dancers’ personalities.

David Wang ’14 sets the bar high with his piece, “The Blue Table,” featuring six breakers who eventually get treated like animals in a zoo with passersby observing them. The piece starts in a daydream-like state with slow and intricate floor work. It signifies a shift in the show’s dynamic from hard-hitting and faster movement to a softer side. Wang also makes great use of space. He covers the whole stage with his choreography and even uses the front edge of the stage. This slower-paced piece ends in a mesmerizing fashion when David Zheng ’15 and Wang mirror each other’s synchronized stalls and complex leg work.

Another highlight of the show is the battle. Co-presidents Brian Chen ’13 and Ryan Armstrong ’GS explain that this battle reflects SYMPOH’s roots. SYMPOH originated not only as one of Princeton’s top dance groups but also a B-boy crew. The battle allows each team member to showcase his or her best tricks, including head spins and windmills, two tricks that you will look up tutorials for as soon as you get home. The battling breakers not only interact with each other in a friendly yet competitive manner but also encourage the audience to take part. Rumor has it that if you are a friend, family member or alumnus of SYMPOH, you might want to brush up on your breaking skills, as they may pull you up onstage mid-performance.

“Breaking Dawn” by Chen adds an interesting twist to the show. This piece, inspired by the love story in the Twilight Saga, is performed in the dark. The dancers have glow sticks attached to their shoes, causing the audience to see only the moving feet of the dancers while they perform their tricks. Though this effect is intriguing and the piece includes execution of difficult tricks, it takes some time to get going. A member brings an Edward Cullen cutout onto the stage to reenact a scene between Edward and Bella. While this impression is amusing, it’s a tacky addition that takes away from the piece as a whole.

Another featured piece, choreographed by Natasha Phidd ’13, is “B-Girls Break the Mold.” This piece starts with four B-boys who are soon replaced by an army of B-girls who intend to show up the guys. This dance includes tense and quick movements that showcase not only the dancers’ tricks but also their hip-hop talents. With the exception of the fact that a few dancers lost energy throughout the piece, it proves the superior skills of SYMPOH’s B-girls.

The breaking tricks are well-executed throughout the show. However, the heavy use of acting doesn’t add much to the performance, if anything. A collection of the dances, including “Welcome to Boot Camp,” choreographed by Tran and “Atlantic City,” choreographed by Willa Chen ’13 and Dennard Dayle ’13, feature dancers mouthing the lyrics of a voiceover. This mostly results in the dancers mouthing asynchronously with the voiceover track and not completely matching the feeling of it. Although their acting shows that these breakers do not have a calling for theater, it thankfully does not take too much away from their breaking abilities.

Despite the dancers’ subpar acting skills, “Inglourious Breakers” succeeds in showcasing the exciting personalities and tricks of Princeton’s B-boys and B-girls. Though these dancers are unlikely to star in the next box office hit, their breaking talents are guaranteed to impress.