When the Blue Cherriz K-pop Dance group started back during the 2021-2022 school year, they were a small group joined together by their love for K-pop, practicing after school, and doing local performances. Now, the group has gained great popularity online. Creek’s K-pop dance group has gained nearly 800 subscribers on YouTube, and gained nearly 300,000 views on some of their videos.
Their love for K-pop – a highly synthesized dance and music genre with tightly coordinated choreography – and their rising success has brought the group closer than ever and allowed members to set even higher goals for themselves.
For senior Kari Korver, the decision to join the group after COVID-19 was an extremely beneficial one.
“I really wanted to get involved in school since I wasn’t able to for a few years, and I wanted to expand my high school experience,” Korver said. “It was honestly the best decision I’ve ever made, I’ve met so many people, and performing is a stress reliever and has helped me so much.”
The team now spends several hours every week practicing for upcoming routines, but they’ve seen their dedication work in their favor.
“Some practices are definitely long and tiring trying to perfect our routine, but we yap and chat a lot which keeps us going during practice,” senior Natalie Chin said. “Even though practice can be tiring, seeing how well we can perform really pays off for the time we put into it.”
As the group continued to grow and perform, The Blue Cherriz gained more and more popularity and eventually performed at the 2023 Homecoming Pep assembly, which is held annually in the south gym. This became several of the members’ most notable performances during their time in the group, even though it didn’t go according to plan.
“My most memorable experience along with many other members was the homecoming assembly last year,” Korver said. “We practiced so hard all summer while also performing at festivals, but when the time came to perform we missed the beginning because the music was too quiet. It was the first time I genuinely felt horrible about a performance. We did the rest of the performance great but I couldn’t shake that feeling of being confused on stage.”
Despite the rough start to the performance, Korver believed that this was by far the most important performance the group had done, which gained 208K views on YouTube.
“We all learned a lot from that performance, but in the end, the team was all there to support each other for sure and we’ve all grown a lot since then,” Korver said.
As the seniors in the group are nearing the end of their time at Creek, they are reflecting on how their time in the Blue Cherriz has become a part of their lives and how they want the group to be remembered even after they leave
“I hope the Blue Cherriz can be remembered as some of the best performances and maybe even something that can get other people into K-pop or dancing,” junior Hailey Shim said. “I wish that we can be remembered for bringing up the energy at assemblies or shows.”
