NAYO isn’t an acronym – it’s swahili. And while the African American dance troop’s name may be a synomym for bliss, their performance of Insane Asylum at the McCormick auditorium on Oct. 29 was, well, crazy.
NAYO put together Insane Asylum in a month, their fastest fall production ever. The show lasted about half an hour, and consisted of a series of short performances, none more than three minutes long. Anywhere between four and 28-ish dancers were on stage at a time, where they combined hip hop and tap with a pinch of modern dance.
The crowd cheered and called out names throughout, most especially during “Soup’s Up at the Insane Asylum” and (the shorter version of) “Thriller“.
A strobe light flashed during several pieces, ramping up the excitement. At the opening of one of the pieces, one dancer added humor to the mix by remarking to the other how glad she was they had “met at DiversiFYINu.”
At the end of the show, NAYO upheld an old tradition by bringing everyone on stage to dance to the “Juke Slide.” And to add to their awesomeness, all the money that the show made will go to a charity.