They didn’t need a stage.
Just a small hallway, a Chromebook and each other.
A group of freshmen turned their love for music into a student-led dancing group. They dance together every day during Cardinal Hour in the third-floor academic wing. Although they don’t perform in a formal setting, their movement draws a small crowd of students who stop and watch them dance.
“It makes me feel alive,” freshman and founding member Zachary Rougier said. “Singing was always one of my things too, but dancing makes me feel alive. The thrill of dancing, the effort you put into it, and once you get that dance move right that you’ve been struggling for so long, it’s so satisfying. All the stress of the day, you just put it into dancing, and it leaves your mind.”
The dance group was built on that kind of passion. Rougier bonded over singing with close friend and freshman Antonio Bogus but eventually found his passion for dance at 11 years old. When the two began learning a dance together, Rougier thought, “Hey, we already sing, why don’t we dance too?” Rougier said the moment felt right, adding that the hallway was “the perfect place for us to do it.”
Bogus said that he was inspired to dance at school after seeing others do the same.
“We were seeing videos of dancing, and there’s these girls upstairs dancing, so we were like, ‘Why don’t we just dance?’” Bogus said.
Rougier said that ever since Bogus and him began dancing, more and more friends came along to join them, until they formed a group.
”Once I started seeing all these different dance moves, they kind of just connected to me in a way that nothing else did,” Rougier said.
Now, the group has grown to eight regular members, including freshmen Tracelynn “Melanie” Holley, Piper Finnegan, Isabella Gonzalez, Carlos Mendoza, Yaretzi Lopez and Elizabeth Vasquez-Lemus.
Holley said she discovered her passion for dance through vocaloid songs —music created with voice synthesizers that are often paired with choreographed dances.
“I saw vocaloid songs and I’m like, ‘The song is fire,’” Holley said. “Then I found out there was choreo to it, and I’m like, ‘This song is fire and there’s choreo(graphy). Just do it.’”
Holley said she went to a different middle school and joined the group at the start of the school year.
“I met them the second week of school,” Holley said. “Me and Antonio, we have the same class.He introduced me to Piper, and Piper introduced me to Zachary, and then Zachary introduced me to the rest of the group.”
So far, the group has danced to mostly Katseye songs such as “Touch,” “Gnarly,” “Gabriela,” “Gameboy” and “Milkshake.” They also branch out and do other songs, such as “GO!” by Cortis and “Jellyous” by ILLIT, as well as Tiktok dances.
“My favorite dance is ‘Jellyous,’” Holley said. “When you learn a dance, it’s like a workout, and since the ‘Jellyous’ dance is so hard, it’s a little extra work to learn, and when you finally get the dance down, it’s a reward of some kind since it is so difficult.”
Rougier is a defining figure for the group as he chooses the songs they dance. Holley says he is “the best leader ever.” Bogus adds on, saying that while Rougier usually picks the songs they dance to, the final decision is always a group effort.
“I’ll make polls or get everyone’s opinion for a song choice,” Rougier said. “I might suggest a song, but the final decision is always a group effort. We all vote, and sometimes if a dance is too crowded, we squeeze people in or even make up our own moves.”
The group is also enthusiastic about anyone joining. Rougier recalled a moment when two students who were watching them practice recognized the dance they were doing and asked to join in.
“Two girls came up to us and said, ‘Hey, we saw you doing a dance we know, can we join you?’” Rougier said. “Me and Antonio were like, ‘Yeah, of course, we’d love that.’ So we danced with them.”
The group doesn’t only prioritize performing for themselves, but they also do it for others. As a consequence of dancing everyday, a small crowd forms in the academic wing. Rougier enjoys the spotlight and tries to give a good performance to the audience.
“When I was in eighth grade, I was sitting in front of over 300 people [to sing],”Rougier said. “It was nerve-wracking at first, but once you get used to it, you start to love it, because you’re the center of attention and all eyes are on you.”
For Bogus, being in the group allows him to explore self-expression.
Dance is like me expressing myself in moves,”Bogus said. “I find it fun because I get to be friends while also dancing with the group.”
The group members have been dancing at Bellaire since the start of the year, and they plan to continue as long as they can.
“I’m in high school now, and I feel like there’s more freedom, and there’s more access to stuff that I never had access to,”Rougier said. “So I’m going to use that to my advantage and try to shove in some stuff for personal time.”
More importantly, dancing wasn’t a decision but rather a connection for Rougier that sparked with his friends.
“I feel like my friendship with my friends got stronger, and our bond got way thicker over time just by dancing or doing the stuff that we love the most, which brings people together,” Rougier said. “I still do love singing, but dancing just kind of connected us in a way that nothing else will connect us.”
