The stage at this year’s Undefeated dance competition was shook so hard during performances that it had to be readjusted in the middle of the event.
“It’s extremely overwhelming,” said Anh Nguyen, president of the Alpha Sigma Rho Epsilon chapter at Temple and a junior in international business and marketing.
Undefeated is an annual Greek dance competition presented by Alpha Sigma Rho, a multicultural Greek sorority established at Temple in 2007. Its goal is to promote Asian culture awareness on campus, while also raising awareness for ovarian cancer.
This year’s event was held Oct. 24 and marked its third year at Temple. Fraternities and sororities from all over the East Coast traveled to attend the event, which is now considered one of the biggest multicultural Greek dance competitions in the area.
According to the event details for the first Undefeated event in 2013, the competition differentiates itself by having no performance theme, allowing groups to implement elements of dancing, strolling and stepping into their routines.
This year, Delta Chi Psi, Sigma Psi Zeta, Pi Delta Psi, Nu Alpha Phi and Lambda Sigma Upsilon competed for $400, a trophy and the “Undefeated” title.
People started filing in Student Center room 200C at 6 p.m., where the ASR sisters and performers had been practicing and preparing for the opening of the sold-out show since noon. Some even had their first meals of the day backstage 30 minutes before the show began.
After ASR’s opening performance, the fraternities and sororities put on their own performances, which were judged by b-boys Dominic DiMatteo, known as “Domkey” and Danny Nguyen, or “Atomic Goofball,” in addition to ASR sister and Temple alumna LaMonica Shultz.
To accompany the competitors, dance groups Illusive Soul, By Any Means Necessary and Inspiring Visions all had the chance to perform at the event. Before the winners were announced, a raffle was held to give out gift cards to food trucks around campus and even half of the ticket proceeds.
In the end, the brothers of Lambda Sigma Upsilon were crowned the champions, followed by the sisters of Sigma Psi Zeta for second place and the brothers of Nu Alpha Phi for third place.
The judges used multiple categories to award performers points, including costume, performance and energy. Sigma Psi Zeta made its costumes personal by wearing purple bandanas to raise awareness for domestic violence.
Nguyen and Shultz both enjoyed everyone’s performances and the diversity of each one.
“It is definitely fun to be able to see different types of dances out of what we can do personally and be able to see the beauty of the dance in a wider range,” Nguyen said.
“I have to put effort to just contain myself and stay professional while everyone is performing, cause I just want to get up and dance with them,” Shultz said. “But I can’t because I have to judge them, which is hard because they’re all so great.”
Mai Alissa Le, a senior pharmacy major and president of the Vietnamese Student Association, appreciated the welcoming nature of the event.
“I thought it was a well organized event and a unique way of showcasing Greek talent from not only chapters at our schools, but other schools as well,” Le said.
Ayah Alkhars can be reached at ayah.alkhars@temple.edu.
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