cvp dance hub

Welcome to the dance hub. A blog about struggles, inspirations, and updates on daily dance life (MGT358 class project)

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My Dance Inspirations

In order to build dance foundation, I binge watched so many dance videos on youtube and instagram and got inspired by so many insanely talented dancers.

1. The dancer that first inspired me to have a hard-hitting big movement dance style would be Ysabelle Capitule. She is a Filipino-Portuguese dancer who has danced in big stages such as the X Factor, the Ellen DeGenres’ show, and Nickelodeon’s Kids Choice Awards. She is one of the most followed dancers on instagram, currently having almost 800k followers. I would say she’s definitely a favorite of mine still today when it comes to the “lit” style as I call it.

2. I ventured into the more technical style when I discovered Sorah Yang on Youtube. Sorah Yang has choreographed for my favorite California dance team (GRV), has coached some of my favorite K-Pop artist (New Jeans and Monsta X), and has been nominated as Female Choreographer of the Year twice by World of Dance. Sorah Yang has so many intricate moves and she hits every beat in the right pocket. She’s very technical, but very sharp and powerful as well. Until today, I still call her my favorite dancer.

3. On a personal level, one of the dancers I respect the most would be the very first dance captain I’ve gotten the privilege to learn from at the start of my dance journey. My high school captain Alea F. started our team from nothing. All of the members from our high school’s dance team quit just before I joined due to drama, so during her junior year (my sophomore year), she took the reigns and trained a team filled with beginner dancers such as myself. Our high school all female dance team has never placed 1st in the high school dance competitions before, but by the time I was a senior, we achieved what we thought was unimaginable with dancers who have only been dancing for approximately 3-4 years. We won 1st place. Alea gave us the vision and drive, and we made sure to keep it going after she graduated. The joy on her face when she came to watch our winning performance filled our team up with so much pride.

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My Dance Performances and Competitions

Having started dance in high school, I have only experienced a handful of dance competitions personally, but all these different competitions definitely had their own unique atmosphere. West Coast Elite (WCE) was my high school dance team’s most important competition in the year. WCE hosts dance and drill competitions all over the US, specializing in dance competitions and conventions for high school, middle school, and elementary. WCE consisted of 2 parts: Regionals and Nationals. To get to the Nationals competition, there are different regionals around the area that will determine if you belong or even qualify for the Gold, Silver, or Bronze section. Ironically however, Regionals have always felt like the bigger deal as that is the competition where other teams first see your performance. Regionals also had less amount of teams, and consists of your closest competitors in the area. My high school was part of the well known rivals schools, which were the top 4 south bay high school dance teams: Otay Ranch, Eastlake, Olympian, and Morse High School.

BRDGE was another competition that was a lot more prestigious. This competition is one of the largest southern California dance competitions. The BRDGE Juniors was the competition I did when I was in the community youth team, iLL Habits. I moved up to participating in BRDGE SoCal Adult competitions when I joined my college team. The atmosphere here was incomparably more tense because the competitors come from all parts of United States, even sometimes outside of the country like Mexico and Japan. My favorite dance competition in college however, is Maxt Out, another known dance competition that is of a lower caliber as it is joined more by collegiate dance teams instead of large professional teams. Competition feels more friendly here.

Competition aside, dance teams also perform for school events (culture nights and pep rallies) and community events (benefit shows and night markets). My most recent performance was for a high school club’s benefit show called Dance For A Cure (DFAC), which is production that aims to raise money for Rady Children’s Hospital’s research for kids with cancer. This year had the most seats sold out ever since the benefit show first started. The show seated around 1,500 people that day. It felt rewarding to know I was dancing for a bigger cause, and the dance community felt very connected in this event. It was a nice break from the competition scene.

Dance competitions and performances build confidence within the teams and within the individual dancers. These events bring the community together and give dancers something to look forward too. Competitions also helps asses a dance team’s growth. I had learned not only more about myself as a dancer, but also how to be respectful and supportive of other dancers.

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My take on dance teams:

Having started my dance journey by auditioning for my high school’s all-female hip hop team, my view of this hobby has grown and developed to be competitive and cooperative. I have never danced until tryouts, so dancing never started for me as something I simply did by myself for fun. Right off the bat, after getting on the team, we were skillfully trained, physically conditioned,and mentally strengthened to be competent enough to learn and perform choreography for school performances and high school dance competitions. My dance captain’s mantra was “you are only as strong as your weakest link.” and this motivated everyone to push each other to our fullest potential. Friendly competition within my high school team was always present and healthy because of this. Bonding days were also planned to strengthen our teamwork, as well as make sure we’re still having fun doing what we love. My high school dance team experience encouraged me to audition for outside community dance teams, as well as the dance team I’m on currently in at my university. For me and most of my fellow dancers I know today, high school dance teams were what introduced them to competitive dance.

During my last year in high school, I joined an community dance team called iLL Habits. This outside team was more prestigious, competitive, and professional, as it consisted of the best dancers from different high school dance teams around the southern region of San Diego. The competition within the team was definitely not as friendly. iLL Habits had professional choreographers, unlike my high school, so meritocracy based favoritism was inevitable. This professional dance team felt very intimidating and pressuring, but despite all this, seeing the final result of the set made me feel so proud to be part of it at all. The production always surpassed my expectations, and being part of this team has taught me to trust the process, and to really work hard to deserve your spot.

After entering San Diego State University, I joined VSA Modern, a hip hop dance team in my college. Some of my old teammates in iLL Habits promoted this team to me as they became part of it after they graduated high school as well. I joined this team to be able to simply dance on the side while finishing university. I didn’t expect much from it, but the competitive drive some of the dancers brought here was contagious. Collegiate teams offered diversity as university students came from different parts of the country, even different parts of the world, and with them their different dance styles and background. Some dancers from my collegiate dance team were also part of bigger professional adult dance teams, so being exposed to that level of skill inspired me. Collegiate dance teams are also more lenient because it consists of adults who are already disciplined and mature for the most part. Everyone on the team has different goals in dance, but we all come together to do what we are passionate about. Being in dance teams emphasizes that dance is not simply a hobby, for some it can be a lifestyle.