Aerie Em performs spoken word while Ben Gugino plays the vibraphone Saturday during Breakin' Curfew at the Power Center.

Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com

Young energy filled the Power Center in Ann Arbor Saturday night at Breakin’ Curfew, an annual showcase of talented teenagers. Most of the audience was made up of high school students — as well as plenty of family members — who came out to support bands, solo artists, dancers, break dancers, percussionists, spoken-word poets, and a wide range of other types of performers who hail from high schools all over Ann Arbor and southeast Michigan.

The seventh annual installment of Breakin’ Curfew, which was presented by local Ann Arbor teen center The Neutral Zone and the University Musical Society, featured more than 20 acts — each one very different from the last. The audience greeted each act with tons of energetic support, enthusiasm, and cheers.

Ann Arbor high schooler Max Satin attended the show last year and this year, and “both times I’ve come here it’s been a blast to see your peers up on stage performing like professionals. Seeing all of these people here to see them and cheer them on is just unreal,” he said.

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How many opportunities do high schoolers get to perform at a venue like the Power Center? How many of them perform with professional-quality sound boards and lighting schemes? But that's just what happens for Breakin' Curfew. Teenage curators worked hard for the better part of a year to organize the show themselves — getting hands-on experience, working and growing under the mentorship of UMS professional experts who taught them about producing and marketing a show.

The word in the high school hallways is that Breakin’ Curfew is one of the biggest annual events for youths in our area out there right now. Friends get invited through word-of-mouth and Facebook accounts, or they find out about the show by looking at one of the event’s many posters or buying a ticket from a fellow student in the lunch room, according to a number of young attendees.

“All the bands promote themselves at school. They put all the posters up to get everyone’s attention. You always see people in the hall saying, ‘Come to Breakin’ Curfew!' ” said Shannon Porterfield.

Many of the youths in attendance said that the show gave them something different from the same old, same old. High schooler and dancer Kate Markey explained, “I go to see dance concerts at Community High and those are always really great. I’ll go to see high school music (like school orchestra and band performances), but this concert is different because it has solo acts and smaller groups. I think it’s really cool that kids can showcase their talent when they don’t have to be in a huge group. They can be in smaller groups and really show that they are the most talented ones in the city ... I think this is one of the bigger events” for young people.

The energy at the Power Center was refreshing and very supportive. Every single act received a huge round of applause. For the better part of the show, teens rushed the small section of standing room in front of the stage. They were up there for the danceable, higher-energy acts and they stayed there through many of the slower, more classical or sit-and-listen kinds of acts like spoken-word poetry.

Audience members seemed impressed by the high level of talent and professionalism that performing teens brought to the Power Center stage. High schooler Michael Sandusky said; “Everything has been ridiculous. It’s just the coolest thing ever. There’s so much energy. Usually when you go to see bands — there are maybe four bands performing — one of them is really good. All of these (performers) are really, really good.

Fellow high schooler Olivia Kincaid agreed that the show was “amazing.” She was impressed that “they had so many different things. I’m so glad I came. It’s like a lot of concerts all in one and there is just so much talent.”

For a list of performers featured in the show, see the Neutral Zone's Breakin' Curfew page or read AnnArbor.com contributor Roger LeLievre’s preview of the event.