ACA Hip Hop Seated in a 20-person ring around three handicapped parking spots, the group looks solemn. Once within earshot, they can be heard sharing their opinions about an upcoming dance competition, punctuated by laughter, quips of encouragement from others, and starting engines. This is the Association of Chinese Americans Hip-Hop group, and their All-Cal competition is a few weeks away. It's a big deal. ACA hip-hop groups from the grand majority of the UCs will be dancing in the annual competition this year at Florentine Gardens, a club in Hollywood. The issue at hand is that one member of the group recently left, as he is not a UC student and thereby an unfair addition to the group during competition. The ACA Hip-Hop family, as they call themselves, is big on sharing, and this split has created much to consider. But 15 minutes later, they pull out a boom box, plug it into an extension cord, and gather for a huddle. When they stand together in formation and explode into movement, they grow bigger, one huge creature coming alive. They pause to reassess choreography. They smile and frown in puzzlement. They get excited and carried away with arm-popping moves. But mostly, they are happily, uninterruptedly creating art in their own space, literally turning the corner of Lot 7 into an underground hip-hop studio.
– Giselle Maund
E-mail Maund at gmaund@media.ucla.edu.UCLA Marching Band's Drumline UCLA Marching Band's drumline is the quietest rehearsal group on campus. If you cup your ear, you may or may not be able to hear them as you peek around the corner of Schoenberg Hall from Dickson Plaza onto Charles E. Young Drive East. Instead of the expected symbol crash or pitter patter of the snare drum, the loudest noise may likely be the commands of Dave Nichols, the percussion section leader, or Kelly Flickinger, the section's head instructor for the coming year. At 7:45 p.m. each Wednesday, one can see a handful of musicians drumming on their quiet practice pads in the vacant driveway. It's that time of year again: spring training. Although the UCLA Marching Band has a designated band room, right now it is holding spring workshops in preparation for the upcoming fall athletic season, which requires it break into small practice groups. From a few yards away one can watch the visual spectacle of their blurred drumsticks rolling in unison with each other and hear their faint rum pum-pum pum.
– Jessica Wong
E-mail Wong at jwong@media.ucla.edu.Salsa Club

Stiletto pumps stomp, spin and step on the smooth cement of Bruin Walk. Spanish music blasts from behind the Bruin Bear. Men and women quickly pair up and move back and forth, spinning, dipping and all the while moving their hips swiftly from side to side. The Salsa Club's weekly meeting has begun. Spirits are high as the club anticipates its next event, a party at Kerckhoff Grand Salon which was held on Sunday. Passersby look with interest and amazement as the dancers seem to anticipate their partners' every moves. It turns out to have been a good thing that there is a shortage of rooms with hard floors for practicing – now the Salsa Club gets a constant flow of viewers, one of whom may be moved by the music. Their skill may be intimidating, as their dancing looks as polished as premeditated choreography, but they encourage you to join. As the music gets louder, the number of dancers increases. By the end of the night, there will be nearly 40 people dancing to the Latin rhythms.
– Lauren Schick
E-mail Schick at lschick@media.ucla.edu.Samahang Modern

As the popular beats of Diddy blare from the speakers, onlookers are taken aback by an unexpected variance of rock, jazz and animalistic sounds. The 32-member team was preparing for the anticipated Pilipino Culture Night, which took place on May 19. The atypical nature of the music is due to a new theme the group dubbed its favorite, according to co-coordinator Cynthia Vera. Unlike the 2005-2006 Where's Waldo? theme, this set embodies everything Hypnotist, which involves sharp synchronized moves and scenes in which hypnotists command their subjects. Don't be disappointed if you missed their performance at Royce or Bruin Plaza, because as the quarter ends, Modern members will be hosting free workshops.
– Vanessa Frigillana
E-mail Frigillana at vfrigillana@media.ucla.edu.Chak de Phatte, Inc.



The white noise reverberating off the walls loudens as a lively group of 14 coagulates around the southern opening to The Underground. The amorphous mass falls into rank at the command of a captain. Between the two lines of women and two lines of men, an exchange of flirtatious banter and camaraderie takes place until interrupted by a 5-6-7-8! Instantaneously, a synchronized movement brings the spirit of Bollywood to the handicapped parking spaces of Lot 7. But this rehearsal is certainly no Bollywood production. Clad in denim and Rainbows, the dancers of the UCLA Bhangra Team, called Chak de Phatte, Inc., practice without music. The two groups execute their choreography separately, stomping their feet, curling their wrists and shuffling along the pavement in staggered rounds, as if in competition with each other. They swing their arms in rapid circular motions and thrust them into the air, all while bouncing at the knees and shrugging their shoulders in the traditional Punjabi harvest dance. In less than three weeks they will host Bruin Bhangra, notoriously named The West Coast's Biggest and Baddest Bhangra Competition. By 11 p.m. the crew treks to the Wooden Center, their sanctuary from the heat and car exhaust.
– Jessica Wong
E-mail Wong at jwong@media.ucla.edu.NSU Modern



As the smoke exhaust clears, you see an outlet, vending machines and ... college students in straightjackets? Yes, it's true, but luckily it's only the Nikkei Student Union's hip-hop ensemble, known as NSU Modern. Down in Lot 4, way past dusk, the team is honing its skills for an upcoming competition in Riverside. But unlike past years, where they have outshone rivals with traditional hip-hop moves and music, they have decided to try something new. As they demonstrated last year, they can still embody contemporary hip-hop through classical styles such as 1920s swing, but this year they take an eerie turn to the nearest insane asylum. Dressed in blinding straightjackets and hair gone awry, Modern takes the audience on a journey from a calm beginning to pure pandemonium

– Vanessa Frigillana
E-mail Frigillana at vfrigillana@media.ucla.edu.