Hip-hop dancing doesn't have rules, it just has style.

"It's very expressive," said Hannah Crane, a freshman on the Warsaw Community High School hip-hop dance team.

"There's no limits to hip-hop," said senior Allyson Schwenger.

"It's not the move, it's the groove," said sophomore Britney Kent.

Tamanna Randive said hip-hop has some choreography to it, but dancers don't have to be doing all the same thing at the same time.

Just like there's diversity in hip-hop dancing, there's diversity on the WCHS team. Not only is the 27-member team made up of four different ethnicities and four different languages, but there's also girls and boys on the team. Some have taken dance classes before, while others are experiencing organized dance for the first time.

Kingsley Reyes said, "I love to dance so it was an opportunity for me. I wasn't interested in any other extracurricular here at school."

Randive said, "It feels like a big family, we all have fun together."

This is the second year for the dance team at the high school. Randive said they all got together for two weeks this past summer to learn all their choreography. Their first public performance this school year was Sept. 16 at the WCHS Performing Arts Center Gala.

"It was different for most of us because we're used to performing on the basketball court," said Schwenger. The auditorium stage has less room than the court, but she said the crowd fed them a lot of energy.

"That really pumped us up," said Randive.

Team sponsor Stacey Edwards Wilhite said, "I'd have to say the team was very professional, behavior and attitude. I was very proud of them."

The music they performed to at the Gala was "Catchafire" by Christian artist tobyMac, who performs hip-hop, rap, rock and reggae. Learning the choreography for the number wasn't too hard for some of the members of the dance team.

"It was easy and challenging, mostly easy, because I can pick up steps really easily and I listen," said member Kingsley Reyes.

Wilhite said the dancing helped show another side to some of the members, like Reyes.

"A lot of teachers and students have been very happy to see him dance," said Wilhite of Reyes. "He's very mild mannered."

Wilhite said the dance team has had a positive effect on the members. The students, who normally may not have hung out with another, have formed a type of family. Other students have gained self-confidence in themselves and in their diversity.

"I'm so proud of them, it's been a great experience all around," said Wilhite.

The students also learned about integrity, she said. "They've learned they don't have to be naughty to get respect from their peers and have a good time."

Since founding the team last year, Wilhite said the students have improved and she's immersed herself into hip-hop. This year, the team has learned two dances instead of just one like last year. Besides "Catchafire," the team also performs a number with the high school percussion group, "Veggie Burger."

Wilhite said "Veggie Burger" is "the most wonderful and hardest piece they do, and they created that" as they did all the choreography for it.

Besides performing at the basketball games, Wilhite said the hip-hop dance team is looking for other places to perform both of their numbers. Anyone interested in having the team perform can contact Wilhite at WCHS and leave a message.

"The main thing I want my kids to grasp is that they can make their dreams come true," said Wilhite. [[In-content Ad]]