Greek hip-hop group kicks off

Wanted: sorority sisters who can “shake it like a salt shaker.”\nTryouts for Off-Beat, the new female greek hip-hop dance team, will be held from 8 to 10 p.m. today in the Georgian Room of the Indiana Memorial Union and will continue Wednesday at the same time in State Room East.\nAuditioners will learn a 45-second hip-hop combination today and will perform that combination in small groups Wednesday.\n“We’re just looking for someone – as cheesy as this sounds – who lights up the stage,” said senior Taryn Brickman, co-founder of Off-Beat. “We’re hoping to make this as dynamic of a group as possible.”\nCo-founder and sophomore Ellie Bartlett said the team is looking for sorority members who can add “their own style and their own attitude” to the dance moves and who can improvise if they miss a step.\n“You can definitely see when someone is very powerful and confident about the way they dance,” Bartlett said.\nBrickman said she, Bartlett and senior Katie Vickerman co-founded the group because they missed the experience they had with their high school drill team and heard about a competitive greek hip-hop dance team at the University of Illinois. The three women thought this sort of dance team would be a good venue for the female greek community at IU to come together for the “sole purpose of having fun.”\nBartlett said instead of being “segregated” by houses, the dance team will be an “opportunity for all the (sorority) houses to come together and have a special bond.”\nBrickman agreed that the goal is to “incorporate as many sororities as possible.”\nBecause “music is a big part of our generation,” this was a creative way to unify the female greek community, Bartlett said.\n“That kind of niche is not (on this campus),” she said. “This is a great opportunity to get it started.”