school dance champ

Several students from Stephens entered a city-wide dance competition. Some had to drop out for their trip to America, but one brave and talented Stephens student remained to dance all the way to the finals. Her name is Christina Pun and she is in the 4th grade. School Dance Champ is a televised dance competition in its first season here in Nepal and tonight they had their first ever winner.

The school got a call today at 2pm telling us to get a bus, pack it with kids, and get to the School Dance Champ stage a half hour away from the school. Naturally, Card Tests were immediately halted and 50 kids, two teachers, and myself piled into a bus and headed to the auditorium buzzing with excitement.

signs at the ready

All of the dancers were impressive, with a mind-blowing eclectic blend of traditional Nepali, Hindi, and hip-hop dance, and finally the 10 finalists were lined up and giddy for the results. 7 walked away with consolation prizes. 2 walked away with runner-up awards and prizes. But I won't ruin it, here's the photo breakdown:

Ten finalists, 6 consolation bags. Down to 4. Christina is the adorable little 4th grader in the black tights and black skirt

Down to 3 awesome dancers

Down to 2, and looking nervous...

And the winner is CHRISTINA PUN!!!

Other than a cannonfull of confetti and a hug from her mom, Christina won fame among the competing schools, a gold medal, and a giant bag of goodies from the sponsors. The best part about the whole (rather impromptu) trip, for me, was the level of excitement, passion, and support from the fans. Busloads and busloads of students chanted, screamed, and danced along in the auditorium, supporting their fellow classmates for hours. I have never seen that much sustained raw energy put forth to cheer on a peer. It was awesome (and frightening) and Stephens couldn't be prouder of its dancers and its diehard fans.

Congrats Christina!