Stepping to a hip hop beat
12 a.m. Thursday, October 25, 2007
"We get to do different dances and just be ourselves, be creative with it," Washburn Rural Junior Auhjannay Pittman said.
"The free spirit, you know. It's for the school, and we love doing it," Washburn Rural Senior William Cheek said.
The students are members of the Diversity Freestyle Dance Club.
"We are what hip hop is today," said Sandra Ortiz, the Club's choreographer, mentor and coach. "We're bringing something new to Topeka. We do dance to hip hop music mostly, but we're also bringing 'Step' to Topeka, which is uncommon so far."
Washburn Rural High School
Learn more about Washburn Rural High School on their Web site, www.wrhs.net.
Step dancing or 'Stepping' has African roots where the dancer uses footsteps and hand claps, producing rhythms and sounds.
Both William and Auhjannay know hip hop occassionally has a bad reputation, but they say the dance club is a positive influence.
"It keeps me out of trouble, keeps all of us out of trouble," William said.
"A lot of schools don't have dance clubs. You either see them breaking it down outside of the mall or somewhere. And we know we can get in trouble for that. So we need a positive place where we can do it," Auhjannay said.
The club is also active in the community, including performing at charity events and fund raisers and helping spruce up community centers and other high schools.
Sandra says what she enjoys most is seeing a student come out of his or her shell.
"I see some students that come in very quiet, just wanna be part of the group. And they end up being leaders often," Sandra said.
And the students say the dance club is a place for anyone who wants to join, to belong.
"[We] go out there and have fun. Everybody throws down. We make it happen," William said.
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