New K-pop Dance Team

Every Wednesday during tutorial, a group of 16 dedicated students comes together to learn dances to K-pop songs. This newly created K-pop Dance Team is run by 8th graders Ada Steiner, Mila Lowin, and Sophia Darmawan, and advised by Ms. Katelyn Derricott. Each of the leaders is in charge of a smaller group learning a specific dance. They select new dances every few weeks, which the club will perform in front of the middle school or the ELC.

The club started when Ada got inspired by videos of K-pop dances online. “I was like, ‘Whoa, I want to be able to do that with my friends, because they always look really good.’” Ada then asked Mila to help run the club, and they started it.

Mila’s favorite part of the club is “coming together to make art.” They like the teamwork of it and learning the choreography. Sophia says that her favorite part is “seeing other people who like K-pop, and seeing the dances come together.” Simone Shen, another member of the club, says that her favorite part is “trying to learn new dances with my friends.” Simone goes on to say that “we do have to practice outside of the club to make sure we know our part.”

Unfortunately, many other students in the school are not supportive of the club and instead mock it. “I have people in our grade threaten[ing] to come crash the club just to mess with us. … There was a certain student who [was] going to bribe people to go.”

Ada first learned about K-pop from her YouTube page. Sophia learned about it from her cousin and a few of her friends from Indonesia. But, no matter how they learned about it, the members of this club love K-pop for its culture, people, and “good music,” as Mila explains it.