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Arthur Wu (12): I first started dancing in fourth grade at the lower school dance show, but I really only started getting into it in sixth grade. Before dance, I wasn’t part of any big groups or teams that required a lot of teamwork and collaboration, so being able to work with so many other people, especially in unison and doing things together, which is a big part of dance — that was kind of a big challenge, but I’ve kind of grown to embrace that since.

Some of my favorite parts of dance are the people. Being able, during rehearsals, laughing with each other, joking with each other, but also being able to create something, like a whole dance routine, where everyone is doing these really cool pictures, and you’re working together towards one goal.

Kinetic Krew has been that one constant across all four years. It’s part of my schedule, and it’s been there freshman, sophomore, junior and now senior year, so it’s always been a piece of me. Even though the people change every year, we have seniors leaving and freshmen joining, the vibe, the energy hasn’t changed at all. It’s always just a fun group of people who love dance and who work together just for this one common goal of creating a really cool dance piece.

Claire Cheng (12), Kinetic Krew member: Everyone knows Arthur as someone who’s really outgoing, and they all, everyone loves Arthur. No one doesn’t like Arthur, I feel. And he is very spirited. He’s willing, for our spirit dance, he wore a prom dress. I think that just goes to show how he isn’t too caught up in what people think about him, and that is what makes him a great person.

Arthur: Some of my favorite styles, definitely, number one is definitely hip hop. That’s the one I feel most confident in. Hip-hop is the genre of music that I listen to, so being able to combine my love for hip-hop music with my passion for dance, it’s pretty special, especially when I get to dance to songs that I like and that I listen to on a regular basis. That’s really fun.

Tiana Salvi (12), Kinetic Krew member: One thing I really appreciate about his dancing is his attention to detail and musicality. I think he is very musically oriented. He hits a lot of the beats, and he’s also very energetic, so I think one thing that you see in his dance is how sharp his moves are and everything.

Arthur: Last year, I took the choreography class, where we create our own dance routine completely from scratch, from idea, all the way to the stage. My process is usually, once I have a song, I listen to it nonstop for like two weeks. It’ll be when I’m driving in the car, I’m listening to it. At home, I’m listening to it. And just on walks, when I’m walking my dog, whose name is Auggie, I’m listening to the music, and really just being able to hear all those different beats at different parts in the songs and the different dynamics of the song, that really helps us. 

If I’m driving in the car and I’m listening to a part, I’m like, ‘whoa, I want someone to do a backflip here, or, oh, this is going to be a cool moment for a solo, or this is where everyone’s going to do the same thing. It’s going to be like a wow moment.’ All those different moments, they don’t come instantly. It takes time, which is why I just have to listen to it so many times. But, ultimately, when I start creating the pieces, all those moments come together and it becomes super easy, like, ‘okay, I’m gonna do this here, this here, solo there, and then the dance is done.’

Seeing people respond to my choreography — if I teach a really cool moment at the bass drop and people go, ‘whoa, that’s tough,’ that just makes me feel so good. And it’s those moments that are like, ‘yeah, that’s why I do what I do. That’s why I’m choreographing.’

I’ve made a lot of connections through dance. Dancers, we all know what we go through, so it’s ultimately, yeah, it’s like a new level of a different kind of bond. This year, I am captain of Kinetic Krew. Last year I was co-captain, but this year is kind of a big step up. I’m in charge of making sure that the energy is still there, that people still love to dance and that people are open and put themselves out there. I think that’s one of my priorities.

The people are what pushes me to keep going, all that energy. I don’t know what my life would be like if I didn’t have dance during high school. It’s the people who keep me going. I do it for the other people. I do it for my teammates. I do it for my students. They’re the ones who keep me going, and they’re the ones who push me to be the best I can be.