Breaking, turning, Michael Jackson-style sliding: Dancefest 2010 "Moves Like This," hosted on Thursday night by Adagio Dance Company, brought together students from six Boston-area schools to show a crowd of family and friends how they move. Sticking with this theme of how and why dancers choose to dance, the performance opened with a video by Nathan Hakimi '11 that showcased clips from rehearsals and got the audience excited to see their friends reveal their masterpieces.The actual dance numbers themselves didn't disappoint. The first dance, against the background of Mike Posner's "Cooler than Me," was choreographed by Adagio Co-President Julie Judson '11. With its use of chairs and costumes, it was easily one of the best Brandeis dances of the show. It was also one of the few of the evening that offered opportunities for each dancer to shine. Although each performer attracted positive attention at different points, Danielle Gurr's '11 movements were magnetic all the way through. Her every muscle moved with purpose and grace, and her facial expressions matched the powerful undertones of the music's bass line.

Judson's second number, "How We Operate," was the most intricately choreographed of the night, highlighting the extent of the senior's creative abilities to tell a story and evoke emotion through movement. Gurr's number, "Bust Your Windows," which ended the show, also illustrated a song's capacity for inspiration. Her use of many dance styles in the creation of the combination kept it visually interesting and very original.

The success of Adagio Co-President Greg Storella's '11 "Weird Fishes" really depended on his dancers' body language and facial expressions, and Meredith Nadeau '12 single-handedly added this necessary depth to the number. Her combination of acting and dancing took this song to the next level, and she helped to clarify the changes in emotion that Storella was aiming to emphasize in the song. His routine picked out the underlying meaning of the music and amplified it for the audience.

Another standout performer of Dancefest was Rocky Reichman '13, whose stage presence and hip-hop attitude elicited screams and squeals from the audience in "I Came to Dance," choreographed by Nadeau and Sari Ladin '12. Luckily for Reichman, the fluidity of his dancing abilities matched his level of charisma.

Next up was Brandeis' own Kaos Kids, the newly formed hip-hop crew that has been wowing viewers with its synchronization and hard-hitting manner since last year. With its performance at Dancefest, it was clear that there wasn't a single member among the group who couldn't hold his or her own. Additionally, throughout the rest of the dances, the people who were the most attention-grabbing also happened to be members of Kaos Kids. Outside of the group's performances, each member shone in other numbers, showing his or her individual versatility.

Brandeis student groups B'yachad, So Unique and Hooked on Tap also performed at Dancefest. All three groups brought fun and simple joy to the show, which overall featured a lot of hip-hop and contemporary dancing. The branching out into Israeli dance, step and tap, respectively, added a level of diversity and broke up the show at appropriately chosen intervals. The skit that began So Unique's performance was a nice live pause from all of the recorded sound, and it drew laughter from the crowd.

What really made Dancefest special were the guest performances by Simmons College, Boston College Synergy, Suffolk Wicked, Tufts Sarabande and MIT Ridonkulous. It was great to see how talented the students were, and it was a nice way to open up our campus to their family and friends. Outside during intermission, Brandeis students gathered around a group of BC Synergy members, complimenting them on their repertoire, and moments like that throughout the night showed how Brandeis students really "move."

Editor's note: Rocky Reichman '13 is a Features staff writer for the Justice.