People who love dancing say it can help with self-esteem, depression, and creativity. Physical activity in general helps people channel their energy and calm their emotions. Since there are benefits to dancing, dance has made its way to schools for the students to use to their advantage, whether they want to release their anger, express themselves, or even be creative. At Alisal, Prime Dance Crew was put together by students who wanted to start something of their own that they would enjoy.

That is exactly what senior and founder Paola Chavez did. She was initially part of a different school dance crew called Anonymous Dance Crew, but decided to leave and start her own dance team. “I started it because, the way Anonymous was dancing, they just stuck to the same songs and they don’t dance to any other music that people prefer. So I just tried and started thinking outside of the box and they really didn’t like that. I told them I quit and I just started something new.” Of course, she found help to start a dance team. Senior co-founder Natalie Plancarte was also part of the Anonymous Dance Crew, and she left the crew for the same reason Paola had. “She is the founder, the one who had the idea. I don’t want to take any credit from Paola because it was all her,” said Plancarte. Another person who helped Chavez with the team is Spanish teacher Carlos Quezada, as the team advisor. “I supervise them when they practice. I just make sure that everything is going well, that they’re behaving, dancing appropriately, and pretty much provide a space for them to meet,” he said.

Starting her own team was not as difficult as it might seem. Thanks to social media, Chavez was able to spread the word and recruit people. “I created a Facebook page and Instagram account. I started spreading [the word] out to people and started following students from Alisal High. Also, I put up posters and I made the main office announce it so people would know.” These actions definitely did spark interest in some people. Zoe Mendez said she found out about it through her friends. “Out of nowhere, they just mentioned it to our friends and I was interested in it right away. I saw the posters after they first told us, like a couple weeks after.”

The crew members joined Prime for different reasons. Freshman Santiago Chavez (brother of Paola) joined after realizing Paola was more capable than he thought she was capable of. “I joined it because my sister was trying to prove me wrong because I always doubted her. I told her that she dances good, but I don’t think she would make the crew because I didn’t think she would actually make it. But she made it and I wanted to be in it. So I auditioned and now, she proved me wrong and we performed in La Posada.” Zoe, on the other hand, joined to have fun and learn to dance. “I joined the crew because I really wanted to know how to dance and different ways to dance since it’s one of my passions. I also like how I can be with my friends and just have fun.”

Since Prime Dance Crew was new, there were no members, so Chavez held auditions. She did not look for anything in specific, however she did require diligence. “I look for dedication, passion, and their whole attention. That’s all. It doesn’t matter if they know how to dance or not because that’s what I’m here for: to teach them how to dance.” They usually hold after school practices with the intent to practice the choreography for their next performance. “After school, we come out to the basketball courts, we condition, and then I just show them how to tut. We do a lot of stretches and I’m showing them how to dance. We have fun but we usually just do this for performance. Our next performance is La Posada next month in December.”

Since the Posada was their first performance, they didn’t know exactly what to expect  “It was really weird and fun because it was our first and it was cool to perform in front of a lot of people who we didn’t know that wasn’t just our school.”

Although not many people know of the Alisal High Prime Dance Crew, they continue to do their best and practice. Chavez said, “Prime Dance Crew is for people to join together and show others what they have and to be creative.” Zoe says she isn’t focused on dancing that much and more focused into school.  “I think dancing is more of a hobby for me. I would like to make it a kind of passion but I would also like to continue studying different things instead of dancing.” Santiago shared similar views, “I probably am going to keep going with crew prime but I have to focus on my grades too.” Everyone has different things they want to gain from being on Prime Dance Crew, but they all have a common purpose: learning to dance by the end of it. They will continue doing great and trying their best for future performances.