The Mark Keppel Dance Team and All Male competed at the 49th Annual Miss Dance Drill Team U.S.A competition on April 1st and April 2nd. The competition was held at the Bren Events Center located on the UC Irvine campus.
Dance Team competed in five categories overall: Small Jazz, Medium Hip Hop, Large Kick, Small Military, and Prop. They won 1st place national championship in the Small Military category, 2nd place in the Kick division, 4th place in Small Jazz, and 5th place for Medium Hip Hop. All Male won the 1st place national championship in the Medium/Large Male Hip Hop category, Judge’s Award and Producer’s Award for most innovative choreography. They also won 1st runner-up in the Grand National Championship.
All Male captain and senior Henry Yik cannot express how proud he is of his team.
“I couldn’t be more proud of them, because in the past we have never gotten a banner or any national grand championship awards,” Yik stated. For others such as Freshman Cindy Koh, the competition helped strengthen bonds with team members.
“This brought us closer together because we worked really hard during every practice,” said Koh. “We went through blood, sweat and tears, and we all put our best on the floor. Nothing could ever replace the experience of competing with my team.”
