"I like to defy gravity."

This was what Michael Badal, leader of University of the West Indies-based Powerhouse Tricking Crew, said he liked about "tricking." Powerhouse was one of the opening acts at Presentation College, San Fernando's inaugural dance concert simply called "Dance!" held on March 27.

The multitude of gymnastic flips, kicks and spins set to rap group Chiddy Bang's "Opposite of Adult" had the audience roaring.

Michael, a 21-year-old IT masters student, explained that "tricking" was a combination of gymnastics, martial arts, break-dancing and other dance styles.

The audience was treated to a variety of styles, courtesy of females of St. Stephen's College, Princes Town group Artistic Dance Theatre.

Fifteen-year-old form-five pupil C'Rel Harper performed an energetic folk dance and 18-year-old lower-six student Donnelly Villafana treated the audience to a groovy dance performance of "Oil and Music" by Machel Montano and featuring David Rudder, dressed in a white T-shirt and patriotic skirt, mixed a little wining with traditional bele dance moves.

The strongest of the three performances was Denicia Petrovani's piece set to Beyoncé's "If I Were a Boy." Dressed in white vest, army green cap and green khaki pants with boxers showing, her performance was a mix of modern dance with a little rap.

The 16-year-old form-five pupil, who has danced for seven years, said that a good audience can "help you to do better because they give you the motivation to do it." She added that playing a boy is fun.

But it wasn't all serious dancing, and there was also an amateur competition. Lawrence Arjoon, UWI student currently working at Pres, did what appeared to be an Irish river dance and attempted a flip, but fell halfway. The $60 prize, however, was taken by 15-year-old St Joseph Convent, San Fernando student Takiyah McLean, with a mixture of R&B and dancehall moves.

"I feel great because I wasn't expecting to win, because I can't dance," she said.

The form-three pupil frequently breaks out into dance in class.

After amateur hour, it was back to the professionals, and the audience was thrilled with a performance by B'Mobile Dance Off second-runner-up Unstable D'Gift, who showed their caliber with a high-energy Michael Jackson tribute.

The night ended not with a bang but with a nuclear explosion, courtesy of seven brothers of Presentation College and three South sisters. Ladies and Gentlemen threw in everything except the kitchen sink, transitioning smoothly from a duet dance, ladies dance, old school popping and locking, tutting (according to Wikipedia: an interpretive style that exploits the body's ability to create geometric positions and movements), and a popular dance.

A tutting dance with one male in the middle and five others rotating around him like a merry-go-round had the audience hooting and hollering.

The crowd also went wild as the three girls, including Harper, aptly re-enacted Beyoncé's waist-rotating moves from her video "Sweet Dreams." The other two were Franchesca Knights, a 19-year-old upper-six student from St. Joseph's Convent, San Fernando, and Danielle Dimsoy, a 17-year-old form-five student from Naparima Girls High School.

Danielle said she was "really nervous" because it was her first time dancing onstage, but when she got onstage she fed off the crowd's energy.

"But it was really exciting and I was really pleased with the end product," she said.

Group leader Raun Joseph, who left Pres last September, said the group was formed last November for a school talent competition and went on to B-mobile Dance Off. He noted that the choreography is a collaborative process and that the group will "try to keep dancing to keep getting better."

Dance! organizer Denith McNicolls, who left Pres in 2005 and who has been assisting with the music department, said the funds would be used to purchase music equipment and other equipment for the auditorium. He said there was a lot of culture at Pres, and that they had decided to hold cultural events following exams each term.

"So we trying to give them something at the end of every term for them to come out and enjoy themselves and to build a community, not only within Pres, but with the other (South) schools."

He said that Dance! should become an annual event at Pres.

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