Northwestern Eye: Alex Li busts a move

Alex Li was dancing as if he had an unearthly number of joints. Check out the video. Turns out his hip-hop performance in front of Tech was to promote an upcoming dance concert, “Refusionshaka,” this weekend. 

It’s a huge student showcase featuring choreographed and free-style hip-hop/urban student dance groups as well as a drumming and dancing ensemble.

“The entire show is basically a massive showcase for hip-hop/urban dance,” said Li, who is a member of Refresh, one of the dance groups. 

Performances are 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9, and 7 and 10 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, at Cahn Auditorium (600 Emerson St.) in Evanston. Tickets are $5 for students online and $7 at the door; $10 for the general public. 

Li, who taught himself to dance from YouTube videos and fellow dancers, specializes in iso-pop -- hip-hop dancing with “a lot of isolations, waving and popping,” he said.  

His moves were definitely eye-popping. 

“Freestyling is really where my heart is,” said Li, 19, a computer science student at Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering. “I think it's the creativity and the pressure. You know the saying, ‘no pressure, no diamonds,’? So, it's going in front of a group of people and basically having a blank canvas to do whatever you want, whatever you feel like any given day, any given moment, according to the music. I love seeing how many different styles people bring in with their freestyle.”

Catch him on stage this weekend as he performs with more than 100 students from Refresh, Fusion and Boomshaka!