For students looking to exercise, meet new people and give back to their community, Dancing For a Cause (DFC) gives them a club that fits their wants. DFC performs in order to spread awareness for various issues and charities, all while promoting dance.

“Once I joined [DFC], I really got to know the community of dance, and I started practicing a lot,” senior Karen Lin said. “Now, I’m [the secretary].”

Officers in DFC work on choreography and also guide the rest of the members of the group.

“As the president of DFC at West, I get to watch [the members] grow,” senior Eddie Wu said. “It gives me a sort of gratification.”

In addition to Wu and Lin, the officers this year include Daniel Kong as vice president, Victoria Jackson as head of choreography, Chelsey Wen as treasurer, and Tanny Tejani as social head. “We have a good leading group,” Wu said. “We have some very talented dancers that are leading, so I’m actually really excited for the rest of this year.”

In addition to helping students become better dancers, officers aim to broaden their horizons.

“We want to expose them to new styles of dancing, such as b-boy, crump and popping,” Wu said. “[We] let them explore what they really like about dancing.”

DFC mainly focuses on hip-hop, but they explore a variety of styles depending on the routine.

“Not any single dance is just hip-hop or just contemporary,” Lin said. “It’s like a mixture. It’s just whatever fits the song.”

The practice schedule of the club is rigorous. As events get closer, the amount of rehearsal sessions increases.

“It’s a little intense,” Lin said. “Usually, we have practices on Mondays and Wednesdays, but when it gets closer to performance times, we come in on Fridays as well.”

DFC acts as its own club but the organization is prevalent throughout Texas. The club is its own sector of a larger organization that performs at events and competitions.

“As a club, the performances we will be doing include pep rallies, and then we will occasionally be going to University of Texas at Dallas to perform for charity causes such as Alex’s Lemonade Stand, among others,” Wu said.

Although they were not able to perform at the first pep rally this year due to the early timing, the group performed at the second one on Oct. 28 with three different routines.

“As an organization, we have performances that include competitions such as World of Dance and Birthday Bash,” Wu said.

World of Dance is a prestigious international competition that tours the globe. DFC attended World of Dance Houston 2016 on Oct. 22.

“DFC is also a very impactful organization,” Wu said. “It gives me a place where I can go when I need to express anything through dance.”

In addition to improving as dancers, DFC also informs students about suicide prevention and other intense topics.

“A lot of people think DFC is just a dance group for fun, but it’s more than just that,” Lin said. “Even our name is Dancing For a Cause.”

As the name implies, DFC provides students with a place to express themselves through dance for causes that matter to them.

“It’s created a family for me,” Lin said. “In DFC, we struggle together. We practice hard, sweat and cry. It’s a very emotional group and I love everybody.”

The officers at West are very optimistic for the year to come.

“It’s a really good year,” Jackson said. “[The members are] very excited to learn, and it’s really evident that they have fun.”