No longer are just Ann Arbor teens “Breakin’’ Curfew.” The annual talent show, presented by the Neutral Zone teen center with the assistance of the University Musical Society, has expanded its reach to include young people as far away as Flint, Detroit and Grand Blanc.

“The theme this year is Michigan Pride, so we really wanted to show everybody that all of Michigan has a lot to represent for the arts,” explained Katherine Ford, a senior at Ann Arbor’s Greenhills School and one of 20 teen curators for the event.

Ford and two other curators, — Adam Desjardins, a senior at Pioneer, and Meghna Rao, also a Greenhills senior — talked with AnnArbor.com recently as another posse of teens in an adjacent room worked on labels for a mass mailing of postcards advertising the event. The teens do most of the legwork for the show, including scouting talent, promoting, marketing and technical production, while UMS — the University of Michigan’s not-for-profit on-campus concert presenter — contributes some of the technical know-how, arranges the venue and helps sell tickets.

This year’s Breakin’ Curfew, the eighth annual, will unfold Saturday evening in the Power Center with around 20 acts, the largest number ever. Genres run from rock and rap to dance and poetry.

On the bill are the Detroit Youth Choir (gospel), Someday Came Suddenly (pop punk/hardcore), Grace Hwang + 8 (classical voice accompanied by cello), Tushar Singh (solo tabla), Jasjot & Abpreet (Bollywood dance), DSB & Blaine Nash (rap), Me & Ryan (pop/folk), Maximum Will (jazz), The Blazing Duo (classical), Dilshawn Sahi (rock guitar), Under Fire (percussion duet), Easy Vibe (rock), Maggie McKillop (Celtic fiddle), Detroit School of the Arts African Dance Ensemble, Space Based Adventure (ska), Dance Alliance (modern dance), Tyree Baker (R&B) and Volume Poets.

The event typically sells out. Acts were required to audition, and there were more than 50 from which to choose, said Ford.

Diversity is the key to “Breakin’ Curfew,” said Rao.

“I think we try to address diversity in every sense of the word — geographic diversity, diversity of genre and diversity or crowd,” she explained. “The crowd at ‘Breakin’ Curfew’ is always a little younger than a lot of the other UMS shows, so it’s nice to be able to expose people to art from different cities, different aesthetics.”

Ford agreed. “We really want to appeal to the masses. We know we have teens coming, we know we have parents coming, we know we have teachers coming. We want to give everyone a little taste of everything we’re interested in,” she added.

Desjardins, who is active in theater at Pioneer, also said “Breakin’ Curfew” is great because it gives teens a chance to tap into their own creativity, rather than just perform works written by others. “I think it’s really important that teens can showcase their intrinsic, natural talent,” he said.

Working with UMS offers real-world experience in arts management, he added, and also helps give the show its professional edge.

“They guide the way,” Desjardins acknowledged. “We have great facilitator (at the Neutral Zone), but UMS, they know this business. They have been bringing acts to the Power Center and Hill Auditorium for so long.”

The partnership is helpful in another way as well.

“They show us what it’s like to be an adult and that’s something that we sometimes need to see when we’re kids,” said Ford, who has accepted an internship at UMS this summer and is planning an arts management career.

Although the theme of the show is Michigan Pride, the northern part of the state isn’t represented on the program due to distance. “We tried, but it’s a long way to come,” explained Ford.

Be that as it may, she said there will be no shortage of talent on hand. “Michigan has a lot to offer and we’re excited about showing it,” Ford added.