Dancers Move All Year Round
• Local students attend dance camp to prepare for high school compeition and events.
Peninsula High’s COED Choreo team hosted its annual fundraiser, Camp COED, on Nov. 3, for third to 12th grade students in the Palos Verdes Peninsula School District.
“Camp COED is an event that shows a little bit of what we do behind the scenes,” said junior and varsity captain Chrislyn Tseng. “We use the event to [advertise] for those who are interested in the team and possibly auditioning for the team later on.”
Camp COED was held in the dance rooms on Peninsula’s campus from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Participants were able to sign up for the Camp online through a link printed on each advertisement poster or register on the day of the fundraiser.
Prior to the event, the varsity team members met to assign job positions for everyone who would run and assist the event, as well as create T-shirt and poster designs.
“I think that Camp COED ran smoothly this year. Considering that it was student-run. It was very organized,” said coach Shigeto Nakano. “We had the issue with the fire, but [the team was] able to fix things on the spot and it worked out.”
The event started off with the MC’s introduction and warm-up, in which a Choreo team member lead the participants through a simple series of exercises to get their blood flowing.
Then participants were split between beginners and intermediate/advanced dance, with the students choosing which class to take based on their own dance skill level.
After the first session, team members held a mini-showcase for each group, gave the participants a break and played some icebreakers. After the fundraiser rolled into its second session with the same division between skill level. The routine learned from this class was then performed for the parents to watch and video.
This year, Camp COED was almost entirely student-run due to schedule conflicts and the last-minute change of advisors and coaches that took place prior to the season.
Before the start of the season, the team’s head coach, Heather Horn, moved to another district. This lead to a new head coach, Kimi Hendrick, taking over the team. Because this is her first year coaching COED Choreo, Camp COED had to be run by the members with the captain at the head.
“The only thing that went wrong was the fires in Southern California, which affected the weather in our area,” Tseng said. “[The participants] were supposed to showcase outside at the end of camp for their parents to watch, but [everyone], unfortunately, had to squish into one dance room.”
The day of the fundraiser, the air was thick with smoke and the participants could not stand outside without coughing, let alone dance. Therefore, the team asked for the showcase to take place in the dance room to ensure the safety of the dancers.
Despite the problems COED Choreo faced throughout the process of planning the fundraiser and running it, the Camp was a huge success this year with a turnout of around 50 participants. Team members hope that those who went had as much fun as they did and that they may be interested in COED Choreo in the future.
“Camp COED impacts the community in a positive way,” Tseng said. “It is a way for students to share their love for dancing with friends and family, and the event reflects on what COED Choreo does to represent its community.”
