Nothing But Cuties (NBC), the College’s hip-hop dance group, will celebrate its 25th anniversary with its annual spring show this weekend in Goodrich Hall. Current dancers have invited alums back to campus and will showcase a special routine to honor them.
Founded in 1999 by William “Billy” Green ’03, the team started as a group of eight friends — including Green — with a shared love for dance. In an interview with the Record in 2022, Green said that he experienced hostility as an openly queer man at the College, which ultimately led him to create NBC.
“[The group] came out of my pain,” he told the Record in an interview on Tuesday.
As an expression of joy and a form of exercise, the eight friends met every night during Winter Study and eventually formed the hip-hop group in the spring semester. “[The anniversary] is a surreal experience for me, because I never would have expected NBC to be 25 years strong,” Green said.
Today, the group consists of 14 dancers with various levels of training and experience in different styles. Director Isabel Carmona ’24 reflected on the group’s strong presence on campus today. “We’re really lucky to have had support from the College and amazing students and dancers in the group [so] that we’ve been able to keep this longevity,” she said.
Social Coordinator Michelle Wang ’26 first watched NBC perform at the Previews Jamboree as a prospective student. “Having danced all my life, it was honestly a significant contributing factor towards my choosing Williams,” she said. “I auditioned during my first week at Williams and been on the team ever since — it’s been such an awesome experience.”
Head of choreography Iman Shumburo ’24 emphasized the intense athletic nature of the group. “I would admit that NBC is a bit more intense and a bit more rigorous as a dance team,” she said. For example, the group will rehearse a total of 40 hours this week before its 25th anniversary spring show, which includes 10 routines in which each of the 14 members participate. “But, we all love it,” she added. “We think dance is a wonderful form of physical expression.”
NBC President Ethan Richmond ’24 and Carmona joined the group in 2020 as first-years. Due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions for in-person gatherings, the group practiced in the parking lot of the First Congregational Church and some members joined via Zoom. Richmond reflected on the importance of the community created by NBC in his first year in the group. “NBC was the highlight of our week, even though we hardly met and we were meeting on the boneless basketball court and church parking lot,” he said.
“It’s kind of a perfect eclipse that our last show is also the anniversary show because [these alums] shaped who I am as a person and have inspired me into becoming the person I am, especially in regard to my queerness and my Blackness,” Richmond continued.
In addition to nine student-choreographed dances, NBC will perform its group dance to Missy Elliott’s “X-tasy,” which Green originally choreographed in 2001. The routine is a tradition performed at the end of every spring show.
“‘X-tasy’ is a piece that … takes you beyond a moment,” Green said. “[NBC] has art from all walks of life… [Dancers] come in with different races, ethnicities, shapes, but at that moment, you can put all those styles together and enjoy [them] under this umbrella.”
The dance has slightly changed over the last 25 years, and this year’s version has been modified to honor the original choreography with help from Former Associate Dean of Students Christopher Sewell ’05, who was a member of NBC.
Sewell sent Carmona, Richmond, and Shumburo an old video of the dance. “There’s a part that only the seniors do, and we learned — or we tried our best to learn — the original choreography from the video,” Richmond said. “[It] was filmed probably on, like, a calculator,” he joked.
Since its founding, NBC has been an inclusive space for dancers of diverse backgrounds to express themselves through dance, according to Green. He credited the group’s structure for its ability to hear student voices and respond to the evolving campus. “I strongly believe that it is the NBC structure and how it is run that makes it such an inclusive group,” Green said.
“We’ve worked really hard to preserve that integrity, and to really honor all of our differences,” Shumburo said. “For an audience member, it’s very rare to see not just diversity of color, but diversity of experiences and majors and all those things in one place at one time… It’s just so joyful.”
The impressive abilities and overwhelming energy of the group inspires dedicated fans. Gus Demerath ’25, for one, expressed his excitement for the spring show. “I love the energy they bring to campus,” he said. “Dancing to music is a beautiful part of life, and they do it so well and share it with all of us.”
Demerath plans to attend this weekend’s show, which will likely pack Goodrich Hall with enthusiastic students. “The audience gives us so much energy when we’re performing,” Shumburo said.
“One of the things we take really seriously is putting on a good show that the community can [attend],” Carmona added. “We’re always thinking about the timeliness of finals [when] people are stressed — how can we create a moment of joy and fun and energy that people can come and enjoy?”
Hoping to expand its engagement with the larger College community, NBC has begun to host Winter Study Free University courses in recent years. “We’re looking at maybe expanding [and] hosting cross-collegiate showcases or competitions in the future,” Carmona said.
Green reflected on the group’s legacy. “With NBC being 25 years old … it just shows [the] strong voice that students can leave on an institution,” Green said. “Students can be an instrumental part of change in an institution.”
Wang expressed her gratitude for the sense of community and friendships NBC has provided her. “Some of the most memorable moments from my college experience so far have been from dancing onstage with the team,” she said. “It is really a place where I can come do something I’m passionate about, which is dancing, with all the people I love.”
Richmond, Carmona, and Shumburo share a special bond as the seniors on the team. The trio reflected on their friendship and appreciation for NBC before their final time on stage together. “NBC has been the cornerstone and foundation of my entire Williams College experience,” Carmona said. “It’s something that has always grounded me in the self, but also in community.”
“We can’t believe that this is going to be the last time dancing [together], but we’re just so excited for it,” she continued.
“NBC is about opening oneself up to joy,” Richmond said. “Dancing is just magic, and I think the combination of dancing and being with such wonderful people brews the perfect concoction of family forever.”
NBC will perform its 25th anniversary spring show in Goodrich Hall on May 3 and 4 at 8 p.m.
