Students in Tsan Huang’s Chinese 3, 4 and 5 classes competed in Chinese Honor Society’s dance competition yesterday. Students had been practicing their dances in class and over Spring Break.

Co-hosts senior and president of CHS Kevin Liu and freshman and assistant historian of CHS Katelyn Nguyen met up during lunch and after school to prepare for the event.

“We didn’t have the expectation of having the script memorized,” Liu said. “We just used it as a guideline and we could like improvise if needed.”

Bags of ramen were gifted to the judges and participants for their hard work, and red envelopes containing $50, $40 and $30 were awarded to the top three groups. Sophomore Daniel Chan was a member of the “4 Guys” group that placed 3rd.

“My whole group didn’t have any prior dancing experience which was a big problem, but with my friend’s help and group’s willingness to learn, I think it came out pretty good,” Chan said. “It feels great knowing that four guys who are usually the ones clapping at events managed to perform and get on the podium.”

Sophomore Eric Li helped choreograph the “4 Guys” dance. Li went to watch all the other dances and support his friends.

“I really enjoyed hearing the traditional Chinese music and seeing what dances different groups were able to come up with,” Li said. “I enjoyed teaching my buddy Daniel and was pleased to see the final results.”

Some groups performed dances from popular girl groups. Freshmen Ellen Dai and Katelyn Nguyen performed “Lovesick Girls” by BLACKPINK with students from their Chinese 3 class. Though they did not have to make choreography for the dance, the girls said they faced other challenges like learning and mastering the choreography.

“I was already kind of nervous from hosting, and considering we were the last act, there was a bit of pressure,” Nguyen said. “We were practicing up until an hour before the show, so I don’t think we were underprepared. There were little tips that I was supposed to remember, and the whole time I couldn’t see the audience.”

Though Dai had no professional dance experience and had never danced outside of school, through practicing multiple times and using a mirror, she was able to overcome learning curbs.

“A challenge we faced was being in sync and lacking a bit of coordination during the event,” Dai said. “I am a bit disappointed to not have placed, but our group worked hard and aimed to be the best. The most important thing to us was that we enjoyed the event and had fun seeing our peers’ dances.”