Hillcrest had a multicultural week from April 18 to April 21, 2022. There was a different event to celebrate all the different cultures that make up Hillcrest each day. On Monday, students were able to get country stickers. Students were encouraged to wear a traditional outfit from their culture on Tuesday. There was also a video assembly during APP that shared facts and showed dances from different cultures, including South Korea, Japan, and India. Students enjoyed an hour lunch on Wednesday with food trucks with Cup-Bop, tacos, and cone ice.  Students could participate in trivia and eat crepes after school on Thursday. There was a remote learning day on Friday, so there was no event.  

“The planning process [for the dances] was really simple,” sophomore Kyrsten Tinsmith, one of the dancers in the K-Pop videos, explained. “[Usually] we will…make a list of a bunch of popular K-pop songs that had come out in the last year and decide from there. This year, however, one of our leaders had the idea to include songs from three other eastern Asian countries: Japan, China, and Thailand. It took us a few days to compile a list, but once we did, we watched all of the dance practices to find the easiest dances. We chose Candy Pop by Twice for J-pop, Kick Back by WayV for C-pop, Mutelu by Pixxie for T-pop, and Fire by BTS for K-pop.” 

As Tinsmith mentioned, the students did not choreograph the dances. Instead, they learned the dances by studying videos of the original groups performing them, which changed how the group rehearsed.

“We held a few practices but mostly [counted] on the individual performers to learn the dances… [independently, using those videos],” Tinsmith said.  “A few days before we film, we hold longer practices making sure everyone knows the formations.”

When they begin holding those longer practices, they also decide what color scheme they will use for their outfits during the dance.

“This year we did red, but for the talent show we did yellow and last year we did blue,” Tinsmith said.

After learning the dances, the group met up on a Saturday to film the dance. Tinsmith said they picked Saturday because “it’s the most convenient for everyone.”

“On the day of filming, we usually start with the dances that everyone is in so that some people can go home earlier,” Tinsmith explained. “[After filming], one of our lovely leaders edits the videos together, and we send them to the SBOs.”

Tinsmith enjoyed being a part of this group.

“[Doing these dances] is a really fun thing that we do here and [I] recommend that you do it if you’re a fan of any type of Eastern Asian pop or dancing,” Tinsmith said.