People called him a “balderina.”

Breakdancing and his pineapple bucket-hat were his way of concealing himself.

Sophomore Dylan Gan didn’t start dancing until middle school when his mom encouraged him to join the Lanier Middle School dance team. He was already self-conscious about starting dance without prior experience.

Then, in seventh grade, he noticed strands of hair falling out as he ran his fingers through his hair. At first, he didn’t think much of it, but as time went on, his hair loss became more noticeable.

In the middle of seventh grade, Gan was diagnosed with alopecia.

“I was terrified because I had no idea what was happening,” Gan said. “Alopecia is not something that’s really widely known. I was scared that there was something seriously wrong with me.”

Not only did Gan feel like he had no control over his body, but he was scared of what people would think.

“A lot of people around me thought I had cancer,” Gan said. “I had to wear a hat to cover up my bald spots, and whenever I would take it off, I felt a little uncomfortable.”

Because of this, he became more reserved and quiet.

But Gan found an escape through breakdancing. His dance journey started in sixth grade, prior to his alopecia diagnosis.

“I honestly wasn’t so sure about joining the Lanier dance team because I’ve never danced before,” Gan said. “I was semi-interested, though, because we had this family friend who did break dancing. He was a role model that I looked up to.”

Due to COVID, he attended breakdance classes online, meaning he wasn’t able to go in person to dance with his teammates, one of his original fears.

“I was bored all day during COVID, and breakdance was the only class that I found fun, so it was the only class that I actually spent time trying to do,” Gan said. “I think all that time paid off because I started to notice improvements.”

After COVID cases dwindled down, Gan went into seventh grade in person with a newfound love for dance. His self-consciousness around performing slowly disappeared, and he managed to get the position of line officer in the team.

“Coming back from COVID was kind of nerve-wracking because before that, I had never danced in front of people or with people,” Gan said. “I was definitely a little bit nervous, but once I started to know my classmates, it felt really natural, and I found a sense of companionship with them.”

Around this time, his alopecia started and caused some setbacks. The medication he took during his recovery made him sick, and the mental toll of dealing with his hair loss started affecting him. Despite this, he kept working harder at dance.

“Dylan was the most dedicated on the middle school team,” former Lanier dance team member Maymar Iqbal said. “He was always working outside of class, asking questions, that type of thing.”

Iqbal now dances alongside Gan in eMotion breakdance. Gan choreographs several dances and leads rehearsals in preparation for competitions and shows, as he is the vice president of the team. Through all the time spent in the dance room, Gan has developed a strong bond with his teammates and encourages them to push themselves.

“Dylan being my officer in Lanier to now being the vice president of eMotion is like a full circle moment,” Iqbal said. “I’ve seen him grow as a person and continue to be the same hard worker that he has always been. I don’t think Dylan cares what other people say about him. I’ve definitely met people who change from what other people think about them. Dylan’s not one of them. He stays true to what he likes.”

Even though Gan didn’t take what people said to heart, it was still frustrating for him to hear negative comments. Gan describes dance as “an outlet for many different people” and a way to connect with one another.

“The negative comments sometimes came from my friends teasing me, calling me a ballerina or even ‘balderina,’” Gan said. “It was all jokes, but sometimes it got annoying because they were ignorant for singling dance to one specific type when it’s so much more.”

The other students and his so-called “friends” mocked and ridiculed him for his hair loss, but, instead of letting what others said about him affect him negatively, Gan used it as motivation to pursue dance even more.

“People would bully him because they saw this big bald spot on his head, but he didn’t react at all.” former Lanier dancer Charlie Davies said. “He just ignored it and kept doing his thing. He was a little quiet in middle school, but now he’s become a lot more social, and he’s really gotten pretty good at dance.”

Gan no longer struggles with alopecia and his recovery journey revealed his resilience and unwavering determination. The bullying and nicknames didn’t make Gan stop his dance journey; they just fueled his passion even more.

“I feel like having alopecia made me try harder and dedicate myself more to break dance because dance was a distraction, a counteract for my body,” Gan said. “Setbacks are nothing when you really care about what you’re doing. Even now, having fully recovered, I continue to dedicate myself to the craft, and I see my hard work paying off each and every day.”