What began less than a year ago as a small group of students with a simple desire to express themselves is now a 14-member dance crew whose name is mentioned among the best university dance crews in the area.

Despite having been regarded as a joke on an occasion, it is hard to deny that Just Cuz Crew has quickly developed name recognition and a reputation for being strong and passionate about what they do.

“Everyone thought we were a joke at first but look where we’re at now,” Cairyl Alcazar, a junior in nutrition science and a founding member of Just Cuz Crew, said.  

Whether in their workshops or at their recent performance at the Asian Student Association’s Asia Nite , many who have witnessed Just Cuz Crew in action are thrilled to see a new dance crew exhibit a unique energy and quality.

Jeff Shu , a senior in textiles, was one such student.

“I had never seen them dance at all before Asia Nite but I was really impressed,” Shu said. “I don’t really know how to describe it but their flow seems entirely different from what I’ve seen every year which is Fusion [dance crew] and Kamikaze [dance crew] … so even though we have a lot of crews, the addition of Just Cuz Crew adds to the diversity of the dance crew scene … which is good.”

Perhaps this difference in flow can be attributed to Just Cuz Crew’s philosophy that spurred the crew’s formation.

“After not being able to express our talents … we were just like, ‘you know what?  We just want to dance and no one can hold us back from what we want to do,'” Alcazar said.

This emphasis on the freedom of expression carries on in every Just Cuz Crew practice.

“[Our practices are] less stressful. It’s not like, ‘You got to do this. You got to do that.’  It’s a more relaxed atmosphere like friends getting together,” Phang Cha, a freshman in computer science and member of Just Cuz Crew, said.

However, this philosophy has led the crew to break away from the traditional organized structure of a dance crew. 

“We have a lot of talent in our crew. We have backgrounds in modern dance and ballet dance and of course we have really great breakdancers so we highlight people a lot,” Corinne Canavarro , a freshman in first year college and member of Just Cuz Crew, said. “We’re like a family and not a hierarchy.  We don’t have a captain and a co-captain. We don’t have set choreographers.”

However many crew members like Brittny Sanders, a sophomore in international studies and member of Just Cuz Crew, see this aspect as an advantage.

“We all have different talents and we like to highlight those talents,” Sanders said. “The fact that we take the talents that we each have and we incorporate them into the various choreographies sets us apart for other crews.”

Regardless of whether this is an advantage, Just Cuz Crew‘s diversity was visible for audience members to see at their Asia Nite performance where they allowed each individual member to express his or her individual styles of dance to a music selection that ranged from Lil Wayne to Korean Pop.

However, this focus on the individual led Just Cuz Crew to face some unique situations such trying to limit the growth of the crew.

“We don’t want to be too big of a crew. Working with a big crew limits us to what we can do on stage,”  Alcazar said.

Shawn Murray, a sophomore in English and another founder of the crew, said she agreed.

“With a bigger crew you wouldn’t have the ample amount of spotlight time,” Murray said. “We’re trying to get everyone to be the center of attention and not just one person.”

Still, Just Cuz Crew won over many new fans over the past month and many like Alex Clark, a sophomore in microbiology, are excited to see what Just Cuz Crew has planned for the future and how things may change.

“I’ll still be [in school] for a while so I look forward to seeing them grow and evolve,” Clark said.

According to Murray, the thing that unifies them will always stay constant.

“We’re all striving for the same thing. We’re all doing it for the love. We all love to dance. We all love to express ourselves,”  Murray said.

Perhaps it is for this passion and love that fans of Just Cuz Crew cheer and not “just because.”

JCC will be holding auditions Saturday 1-4 p.m in the Carmichael Rec Center on the 2nd Floor, Room A & B.