See the finalists in concert dance, street dance, commercial dance, and world/cultural dance.
The choice of a dance to a song called “Desert Path” was particularly apt for Irene Kim, a 16-year-old junior at Crean Lutheran. That’s because Kim’s life’s journey as an artist has been all about finding her own direction.
“It’s about my path as a journey and the destination challenge,” Kim said of the modern dance piece she choreographed. “It’s the journey, the experience and the movement.”
Then, just to blow judges’ minds, she switched into a dance to the OutKast song “Ms. Jackson,” just because “I thought it was cool to bring hip-hop into contemporary dance.”
In addition to technique and skill, it was Kim’s artistic inquisitiveness that helped lead her to top honors in the concert dance specialty and to be named the overall Artist of the Year in dance. The other specialties in the dance discipline include street dance, commercial dance, and world/cultural dance.
“She has the heart of an artist,” said judge and dancer Kaitlin Wright. “She’s looking into the world as an artist. I like it when she said, ‘There’s no limit, because the ability to create is never-ending.’”
“Irene is the complete package,” said judge Michelle Hebert, a modern dance faculty member at Cal State University Fullerton.
The daughter of a traditional Korean dancer, Kim has trained in multiple forms. However, by the time she reached high school, Kim said she felt that she may have run out her dance string.
“I wasn’t sure where to take it,” Kim said. “Then I switched to concert dance and found a new world.”
Kim’s curiosity seems only limited by the time in a day. So far she has trained in ballet, contemporary, lyrical, jazz, modern, and acrobatic dancing.
