Tri-Cities Dance: WABX to the MAX

Every year, Western Academy of Beijing holds an event called WABX to the MAX that brings international students from the three major cities in China (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou) together to collaborate. Our very own APAC Dance team travels to Beijing to participate in this event. It is a time to meet students that share the same interests and passions.

Our dance team left at 7:00 A.M. on Thursday, September 14, for the airport to hop on a three-hour flight to Beijing. The dance event did not begin until Friday morning, so they had all day Thursday to hang out. They went to a mall near the hotel to eat and shop as a team.

On Friday morning, the team woke up, ate breakfast at their hotel, and took a provided bus to WAB. Once there, they did a quick warm up and then they were split into three different groups. These groups, named Ensemble 1, 2, and 3, were randomly picked, leaving the dancers with people they had never met or collaborated with before. Once they were in their groups, they went to three different workshops that morning: Hip Hop, Chinese Contemporary, and Latin. In Hip-Hop, they learned how to pop and lock. In Chinese Contemporary, they learned a heavy technique based piece, and in Latin, they learned a routine to Despacito by Luis Fonsi. Once they finished these workshops, they began to choreograph a piece in their group to perform at the banquet at the end of the weekend. They were choreographing dances to a piece the Jazz Band had put together. At the end of the long day, the team went back to the hotel to get a good night’s sleep for Saturday.

Saturday was the day of the big performance! The team went back to WAB and started their morning with a long yoga session. Then, they split into their groups once more to finish their choreography for their performance. They worked all day choreographing and at 6:00 P.M. they had performances. Each group performed in front of all the participants of this weekend event. Each performance was a success and they ended with an improvisation where anyone could go on the stage and perform. This was a time when the dancers could show off their individual talents. After the performance, there was a banquet held with dinner and music and soon the dancers all made their way back to the hotel after the long day.

On Sunday morning, the whole team woke up early to get on a flight back to Guangzhou. This was a fun and exciting weekend that allowed the team to grow in so many different ways, but the whole team was tired and ready to go back home.