SBS Class Inspires Hip Hop Team

Destinie Schroff, Staff Reporter

Destinie_Schroff@csumb.edu

April 7, 2008

CSU Monterey Bay’s (CSUMB) Rhythmic Flow offers students a chance to dance outside the traditional cheerleading or dance team mold. Created by Chris Marcos, a sophomore Teledramatic Arts and Technology (TAT) major, the Hip Hop teams has proven to be a hit at basketball half time shows, talent shows, and have performed at on-campus fraternity gatherings. 

Marcos came up with the idea during his performance in the first talent show last year. “I always wanted to be part of a group,” Marcos said, and what stood out to him during the show was that he was the “only solo performer.” Marcos created the club as a part of his Democratic Participation Project for a Social Behavioral Science (SBS) class and has kept performing with the group ever since. 

The first members were enlisted by responding to Marcos’ open forum post for a Hip Hop group. The members had a meeting, discussed plans, and had try-outs to see who would make the group. 

Erin O’Brien, Liberal Studies (LS) sophomore, is an original member. O’Brien has been dancing both cheerleading and Hip Hop since high school and after learning about the group and performing a learned routine for Marcos, she was admitted. O’Brien said “The routines are largely collaborative and open to changes. Chris is a great choreographer, and he’s completely open-minded, so it’s a great combo.”

“The practices are a lot of fun. We are all pretty friendly and we joke around while we learn the dances, and of course, we all love to dance so that is fun as well,” O’Brien said.