You want variety? Breakin’ Curfew has plenty.

For the seventh year in a row, the Neutral Zone teen center teams up with the University Musical Society to put on Breakin’ Curfew, a show featuring the best of local youth talent, Saturday night at Power Center.

“Each year’s show is wildly different than the ones before it,” said David Shapiro, 17, a Community High School student as well as the event’s producer and head curator. “The magic is in the mix for the show. Where else can you see a poet, a modern dance ensemble and a punk band, all in one night?”

All of the performers in Breakin’ Curfew are teens, and none are repeats from previous years.

This year’s participants include Echoes (pop-punk), Washtenaw County Rugby Club (chant), Hannah Pearlman (singer-songwriter), Ryan King (clarinet), Cass Tech Dance (modern dance), Max’d Out (jazz sextet), Beats of Mass Destruction (hip-hop), Sole Transit (funk), F.I.R.E. (drumline), Wruice Deuce (rock), Ann Arbor 3+1 (classical), Ann Arbor Civic Ballet + A2 B Boy Squad (ballet and break dancers), Ben Gugino (vibes), NZ.MC.Wrkshp (hip-hop), Milan Griffes & Swing City Tap Dancers, Huron Trash Talkers (percussion), Jacob Joyce & The Incredible Orchestra (Pioneer students), Soul Merchants (blues) and Volume Youth Poets (poetry).

More than 50 performers from Huron, Pioneer, Skyline, Community and Greenhills schools are taking part, with upward of 20 curators (producers) and another dozen UMS staff members involved in the project.

The teens do most of the legwork, including scouting talent, promoting, marketing and technical production, while UMS contributes some of the technical know-how, arranges the venue and helps sell tickets.

One of the acts Shapiro is particularly excited about is Cass Tech Dance (Breakin’ Curfew is open to all teens in the southeast Michigan).

“We’ve been trying to get them for the past couple of years, there’s always been 1 conflict or another,” he explained. “We went through a lot to get them. If you haven’t seen them, they are fantastic.”

“There’s definitely something for everyone,” added Katherine Ford, 17, a Greenhills student and marketing chair of the event. “There’s a really good combination of acts that teens are really into, but then there’s pretty much every form of music, art and dance that people would expect to see — or not expect to see. I think there definitely will be times when someone might say ‘Oh, this (is) loud rock music — but I really want to stay for the whole show.’ It’s a really diverse show this year, there’s so many groups.”

Both students said working with UMS has been a rewarding experience.

“We had a really intimate relationship with each of the staff members there, and over the course of the year, different ones would come and do workshops and we would get to see the UMS side and really learn how marketing and production goes on into putting on a show,” Ford explained. “I think, working with them, we really saw how to be professionals, and they were really good about working with teens who didn’t know much about marketing and production.”

Shapiro agreed.

“Where else would we get the chance to work with a world-class arts presenter? They teach us so much. Without them, Breakin’ Curfew, would be a really different show.”

One thing to watch out for, Ford said, is the ending. “It will be a very big surprise, with an awesome singer. I think it’s going to start off classical, then get pretty modern and awesome.”

“The finale is great every year,” Shapiro added.


Roger LeLievre is a freelance writer who covers music for AnnArbor.com.