Saggawockeez dance to the top

November 2, 2009 —

Courtesy/Saggawockeez

The Saggawockeez, an on-campus dance team, won the “Saginaw’s Got Talent” contest last weekend, earning a promotional package valued at $6,000.

A few months ago, a television show inspired a hip-hop dance crew to form on campus. Last weekend, the performers took home a $6,000 grand prize.

The group, called the Saggawockeez, won the “Saginaw’s Got Talent” competition at the All About Women Expo on Saturday, Oct. 23.

“The competition was amazing,” said Eric Traub, a biochemistry junior on the team.

Fellow performer Lawrence Jones, a mechanical engineering senior, said he’d been nervous.

“Anybody can beat anybody any day,” he said. “I could have fallen off the stage.”

The band’s four other members are Adam Lucio, mechanical engineering junior; Anthony J. Lucio, chemistry and Spanish junior; Amanda Mueller, theater junior; and Young Lee, accounting junior.

The band’s initial inspiration came from the its brothers, Anthony and Adam Lucio. The two had been awestruck by a dance crew they saw on MTV called JabbaWockeeZ.

Months later, the newly dubbed Saggawockeez even adopted a similar uniform: they wear white masks and gloves during all their performances.

But neither of the Lucios had any formal dance training.

“It’s just something we picked up in high school; we found that we love to dance,” Adam said.

In fact, Mueller, the only female member, is also the team’s only formally trained dancer.

“I love to dance,” she said. “I have had a wonderful time getting down with my bad self.”

The Saggawockees are still undecided on how to spend their prize package.

“We really wanted the title more than the money,” Anthony said.

The six members came together only seven months ago.

“We decided to dance for Intercultural Night and represent America. It took off from there,” Anthony said.

Over the summer, the group performed in Ann Arbor, in Midland and in Saginaw for Relay for Life and other events. They said with each performance, the response from the audience and students pushed them to become an official registered student organization.

“We performed for Cardinal Idol, and afterwards we realized that students on campus really enjoyed us and maybe this is something we can keep going,” Anthony said.

Each person brings something to the group, he added, whether it’s personality or new dance moves.

“Adam comes up with a lot of the choreography,” his brother said.

Traub lays out the music. The songs at the Oct. 23 performance included work by the Beastie Boys, DJ Shadow, Kanye West and the Black-Eyed Peas.

“I had some previous experience with it as a member of the Forte dance group,” Traub said.

Any training secrets?

“It’s all about the You- Tube videos,” Adam said. “I watch them to understand how the body is supposed to move and will replay them over and over until I have a move down.”

All the members say the best part is coming together with friends and enjoying themselves.

The next event for the Saggawockeez will be an orientation at SVSU on Nov. 6 for students from Arthur Hill High School in Saginaw. The dancers will perform a short routine before a Qand- A session, in which they will talk to the visiting students about college and goals.

“We want them to know there are all kinds of outlets for self-expression and creativity,” Mueller said.