This article was originally published in the fall 2014 Harker Quarterly.

In August, members of Harker’s varsity and JV dance teams attended a four-day dance camp with the United Spirit Association at University of California, Santa Cruz. Harker received the highest award – a superior – for choreography, and the team also was honored with the “Hardest Working Team” plaque.

Individual awards were given to Emily Pan and Ankita Sharma, grade 11, for their drill-down technique. Meanwhile, among the 150 participants, Noel Banerjee, Darby Millard, both grade 12, and Liana Wang, grade 9, were recognized as All-American dancers, earning an invitation to perform in London.

While it is always amazing to be awarded for hard work and technique, “the most memorable part of camp was being told by the USA instructors that Harker’s dancers were incredibly polite, dedicated, humble and supportive of both their team members and the other participating schools,” noted Karl Kuehn, dance team director. “Their passion to learn and grow as dancers fueled the team’s success, and I could not be more proud of this fantastic group of students.”