Performers were decked out in bright colors and dancing to upbeat hip-hop and pop hits in front of Alumnae Hall’s flashing strobe lights during IMPULSE Dance Company’s 19th annual spring show, “RUCKUS,” last Friday and Saturday.
“RUCKUS” featured collaborative work with members of various other on-campus dance troupes, including Fusion Dance Company, DAEBAK and Tempo Performance Company. The show also included over 30 members of IMPULSE’s “ELEMENTS” program, a four-week community dance workshop for beginner dancers at Brown and the Rhode Island School of Design. IMPULSE also invited audience members to join in on dances that have recently trended online.
“The show was super electrifying,” said audience member Tykerius Monford ’25. “It’s really cool that IMPULSE tries so hard to collaborate and bring in outside performers.”
Courtesy of Karl Swenson
Audience member Nora Starhill ’25 echoed Monford’s sentiment, calling the show’s strategic use of lighting “funky and new” and the dancing “beyond impressive.”
For Aziza Alford ’25, IMPULSE community co-chair, the group represents a unique and welcoming community within the University.
“IMPULSE has been my rock at Brown,” Alford said. “It is one of the most diverse communities that I’m a part of, and I love to be given a safe space to be vulnerable and share my choreography.”
“One of my favorite parts about the show is when we all start yelling on stage while we dance to hype each other up,” Alford added. “I love my IMPULSE family and I’m glad to have their unconditional support.”
Alford noted that this year’s spring show was particularly notable for IMPULSE because it highlighted the group’s dedication to community engagement through its very composition.
“This year’s show proved just how diverse our company can be,” she said.
According to Ming-May Hu ’23, one of the co-directors for “RUCKUS,” building community is what the company does best. For this year’s performance, Hu choreographed a joint dance piece with Fusion.
“I loved getting to combine my love for two different companies and bring the communities together,” she said. “One of the best things about IMPULSE is that, in the end, we are all united by our love for dance and each other and want to share that.”
Courtesy of Karl Swenson
For Arielle Martinez Cohen ’23.5, co-director of the show, “RUCKUS” was “truly the highlight of my Brown experience.”
“I’m so in awe of how talented everyone is in dancing and choreographing,” she said. “Sometimes I’ll watch a dance and start fangirling over everyone and then realize I actually get to dance with them.”
Hu expressed a similar sentiment, adding that it was “really rewarding to perform with some of my favorite people and put on an amazing show for the audience.”
“As a freshman, I never thought that I would become co-director,” she said. “This group has helped me gain so much confidence and grow as a dancer and a person, especially in the last year.”
“We are so happy with how the show turned out and can’t wait to do it again next year,” Martinez Cohen said.
Sofia Barnett is a University News editor overseeing the faculty and higher education beat. She is a junior from Texas studying history and English nonfiction and enjoys freelancing in her free time.
