A Family Fused

A silent and dark dance studio quickly fills with a flood of footsteps and the echoing boom of soothing laughter as a dance team prepares for a set. The feel of belonging is all too familiar, like a reunion with your closet group of friends. These friends make up a hip-hop dance crew and club at NC State named Fusion.

Over the last several years, Fusion dance crew has grown to include more than 40 members and performs across the southeast, gaining national attention. Fusion has hit milestones and it’s time to reflect on Fusion’s journey toward one of their biggest home-court achievements yet, becoming a recognized club sport at NC State.

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Fusion has an impressive resume as a student-led dance crew. This past semester, the club competed in the Red Bull Bracket Reel Dance, a competition with 15 other college dance crews across the nation. The crew had many late nights putting together routines while balancing regular rehearsals and being full-time students.

Amy Hinds, the club’s secretary, says “we were out at the library until 6 a.m. one morning filming all of our videos. That was pretty crazy.” The hours invested paid off when the team won second place. As a reward, one of the contest’s judges will be flying into Raleigh to teach a dance class for the team. The team also gained great exposure by being featured on Red Bull’s Instagram account, receiving more than 500 thousand views on their videos. “It was a really unique experience that got Fusion out there,” Hinds said.

Co-choreographer Matthew Wright, shares a personal gratifying moment with Fusion in their success at a national competition called Prelude Carolinas Urban Dance Competition 2017. One of Wright’s favorite sets he helped choreograph for this competition. 

“We competed against 16 or so teams and came out in first place. That was my first year being a choreographer, so it was a lot of pressure for me. It was super intense going into it but we went out there, gave it our all and got first place. [The crew was] literally in tears when they announced who the winner was. It was probably one of the top three moments of my Fusion experience for sure.”

Prelude dance competition boosted the team morale bringing the team closer together.

Everyone’s journey to become a member of Fusion demonstrates how the passions of like-minded individuals can be brought together and create a community.

Keturah Postell, Fusion’s treasurer, recalls seeking out Fusion after doing research when she was accepted into NC State. “I knew I was coming to NC State so I did a little research and sought Fusion. I went to their YouTube and Instagram pages, looking at videos. I came into school with mindset to join Fusion,” Postell said.

Hinds was introduced to Fusion from meeting Wright, who was a member at the time. “I found Fusion because of Matthew. I was in the Rec Center one day and they were practicing. He was standing outside and I asked him ‘what were those people doing?’” Hinds later found them on social media and started attending their community classes. Wright also came to know Fusion through a happenstance meeting with a group member.

“It’s a funny story. I was randomly going through the [Carmichael Recreation Center] studios and met one of the members. His name was Steven Ly and he told me about Fusion. He told me to come to Packapalooza and Respect the Pack [two events that the crew was performing at during Wolfpack Welcome Week.” “When I saw the team I was like, ‘oh snap they are super diverse. They have a lot of different people and different styles. This is the team that I want to be a part of.’ I auditioned and I got it,” Wright said.

Fusion has provided a creative outlet for its members. Wright discusses the freedom of expression that dancing has granted him during his experience at NC State. “You get to really tell a story or tell your story, through your movements and with your body. To me, to be able to dance and express myself freely and not care about what everybody else has to say, and kind of defy the norm in that way, makes dance so much more therapeutic for me,” Wright said.

Postell also grew in personal development through Fusion. “Fusion has helped me with my time management. Between schoolwork, doing stuff [for executive-board], practices, and performances on the weekends. [Fusion] has definitely helped me manage my time wisely. I have also been able to grow more as a person by being more extroverted with other people since I’m used to being closed in and not going out of my comfort zone,” Postell said.

Togetherness is a demonimating theme within this club. The atmosphere created reflects more than just a team of people who dance. It reflects a family. Wright, Hinds and Postell consistently mentioned the family dynamic as one of the key factors that sets Fusion apart from other dance crews and defines their success as a group.

“The other thing I think, most importantly, about Fusion is that we really stress a family dynamic. If we’re going to dance together four or five times a week then we want to know each other as people,” Wright said.

Hinds also believes that the commitment each member devotes to the crew is a direct result of the club’s family dynamic.

Fusion dance club has heart, humor and serious momentum pushing them forward to become a successful organization for past, current and future members. Though the crew has seen tremendous competitive success, the team members acknowledges their biggest accomplishment was being recognized as a club sport from University Recreation this academic year, an achievement that has afforded them the ability to continue growing as a team and reaching new audiences.