Cindy Alfaro never thought she would have time to participate in USI Live at the Apollo, but in her last semester, she finally had the time.

“I’ve been wanting to do it every year, but I kept having other things to do,” she said. “I’m really happy that I could do it for the first and last time.”

Alfaro and Lance Grubb performed a Latin-styled dance called Merengue, which is one of the fastest Latino dances.

“Lance and I have danced salsa and Merengue before,” she said. “We met my freshman year, and I started teaching him salsa, and he caught on quickly.”

The two performed at the International Food Expo in Spring 2013, and first showed the school their dancing skills.

“I’ve been dancing as long as I can remember,” Alfaro said.

This year the competition had more attendants than years past but not as many participants.

“I was surprised we didn’t have more dance teams,” Alfaro said. “I hope we inspired people to dance.”

Junior Nick Sims signed up for USI Live at the Apollo for the fourth year in a row, with hopes of adding something different to the talent show, he said.

“There’s nothing quite like the feeling of someone feeling what you’re doing,” he said. “It’s a whole other ball game.”

Sims performed an original piece, “Epidemic,” and he placed first in the Individual Artist Interpretation competition.

“I decided I would do this because it’s along the lines of hope,” he said.

USI Live at the Apollo featured students from different walks of life and brought them together to perform their talent.

Sophomore Nehal Ninad performed original poetry for motivation, he said.

“Whenever I’m angry, in order to eliminate my anger, I write poems,” he said. “But it’s also a way to show I have talent.”

USI Live at the Apollo featured acts in several categories, including individual and group interpretation.

Public Relations Major Elijaih Tiggs performed a piece titled, “10 Things I Would Say to a Black Woman” by Joshua Bennett.

“I wanted to move away from previous performances, and get back to my poetry roots,” the senior said.

“10 Things,” describes a love, not just for black women, but for all walks of life.

“I feel like it’s a poem that goes beyond skin color,” he said. “It’s for black women but it uplifts all women that can identify with it.”

Tiggs has performed at Apollo for the past three years.

“I saw this piece on Tumblr, and it was phenomenal,” he said. “I was thinking of what to do this year and decided on this one.”

Tiggs placed second in the Individual Artist Interpretation category.

USI Live at the Apollo started as an event from Black Student Union (BSU), but it became a university tradition.

Pamela Hopson, Multicultural Center director, helped coordinate the event then and now.

“There was an increase in desire from people outside of BSU to participate,” Hopson said. “We’ve been doing this for a long time.”