EIU Dancers explore their inner ‘Queen Bey’

Roberto Hodge, Multicultural Editor

A total of 20 EIU Dancers will perform to a mixture of Beyoncé songs during Homecoming’s “Yell like Hell,” in McAfee Gymnasium Friday evening.

Ahkeem Lang, a senior philosophy major, said the organization will dance to a mash-up of Beyoncé’s hits during the night.

Originally, the members were going to perform a dubstep performance for Homecoming, but because of a few changes in their directors, the crew decided to transition to a “Queen Bey” theme.

The routine will consist of a mash-up of several of her hit songs.

One of the male members will portray Beyoncé during the performance, Lang said.

Lang added the performers began practicing for the event two weeks ago.

They have been practicing every day of the week minus the weekends.

He said many of their dances are fast-paced with different styles of choreography such as hip-hop, lyrical and ballet.

“It’s never really one style, it’s mixed with a lot of different styles — that’s what makes us different,” Lang said.

The hardest part about their routines are how the males must try and meet halfway with the females in terms of dancing, which for the males, is all about flexibility and leaps unlike for the females, where the focus is on body-pops, Lang said.

Fawaz Sarumi, a junior psychology major, said the performers all check with one another making sure they can all do the same moves, but in order to compensate they may adjust their moves slightly based off of the different genders.

Sarumi said each dancer would teach one another their specific moves if the other does not know it.

There are only three males in the organization and both Lang and Sarumi are hip-hop choreographers.

Everyone performing for the night will have a different dance formation with each person transitioning into a new position.

“We’re not really picky. We don’t care. If we need to move our hips, we’ll do it.” Sarumi said. “We’re dancers, it’s the beauty of it.”

Roberto Hodge can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].