Abigail Fong

Member

Favorite song: 슈퍼 참치 by Kim Seok-jin (of BTS)

Why I enjoy dancing with the Ravens: “Everyone’s really welcoming and supportive, even though, as a newcomer, I don’t know them too well. Whenever I come to practice, they know my name and call me over to sit and talk.”

Maia Bline

Co-President

Favorite song: “Whistle” by Dreamcatcher

Why I dance to K-pop: “Kpop dancing can be much more accessible and less intimidating than other dance types while still having different levels of complexity and different sub-genres.”

Mina Chao

Co-President

Favorite song: “Pinwheel” by Seventeen

One of my favorite moments: “There was a Friday when we were able to play our dance songs on the large speakers from ASB. It was a little scary, but we had a lot of fun as many people, even some new people, joined in, so I’m glad that we had that opportunity.”

Luthien Wang

Member

Favorite song: “Smile Flower” by Seventeen

My inspirations: “I look up to the group Seventeen a lot, since they hold a lot of meaning to me as they were the group that got me into K-pop. I’m also inspired by my friends since we motivate each other when we learn dances together.”

Group:

Students who frequent the quad may occasionally find themselves in front row seats to the performance of the Ravens, Lynbrook’s unofficial K-pop dance team. Started during Hocofest when a group of students realized their shared love for K-pop dance, the Ravens aim to bring the world of K-pop to Lynbrook’s campus. 

While they came together in a casual manner, the Ravens take their dancing seriously. In addition to frequent group practices during the school day, members are expected to practice individually at home.

The Ravens performed a dance cover of “Stereotype” by STAYC as their debut during the Valkyries Fall Show, a performance they prepared in just two weeks. The Ravens practiced every brunch, lunch and tutorial with an additional three-hour rehearsal the day of the show, totaling more than 10 hours of practice.

“We rehearsed so much in the two weeks prior, so now, we cry whenever the song is mentioned,” Co-President Mina Chao said.

After the performance, the dance crew realized they wanted to spread their love for K-pop and decided to apply to be a formal club at Lynbrook.

“Considering that Lynbrook can be a stressful environment, it’s nice to have a group of people that you can just chill and hang out with often,” Chao said.

In the meantime, they have amassed around 40 Lynbrook students on their Discord server, where they take input on what songs to dance to, create channels for communication between dance cover groups, post K-pop news and just have casual conversation. Following their first performance, the Ravens have started preparing three more dance covers to showcase in the coming months.

At times, they encounter challenges with scheduling or members not knowing the choreography, but they provide support to members by preparing resources such as tutorials, “fancams” and honest feedback.

In addition to performing dance covers, the Ravens host random dance plays every other Friday during lunch in the quad, where choruses of many K-pop songs are queued up for anyone to join in on the dance floor. Both Ravens members as well as students who take part in the random dance plays often do not have formal dance training but just want to hang out with friends and express themselves.

“We want to make a safe space for everyone who likes K-pop and dance to get together, have fun and improve themselves,” Co-President Maia Bline said.