Sophomore Dancer Takes the Lead

Crystal Wu ’21 solo dances at a competition. Photo Courtesy of Crystal Wu

By ALI SIDDIQUI and  MARIANA VARGAS

Crystal Wu ’21 was able to find her passion at the age of five: dance. Since then, she’s continued to take her career to the next level.  

“Dancing puts me in a whole other dimension where I can be happy and be me at the same time,” said Wu. 

Wu’s journey started when her mother put her in dance classes. Since then, she’s fallen “in love with the artistry and movement of dance.”

At age ten, Wu performed on the TV show “America’s Got Talent.”

  “I performed a group routine called ‘Frozen’ with my fellow dance members from the Diva Dance studio,” said Wu. “It was nerve-racking at first, but afterward,, it was definitely one to be kept in the books.” 

  Another recent accomplishment was winning the title of “Miss Backstage” in 2018 for having the highest scoring routine at the competition.

“It put me in shock,” said Wu. “I never expected to win something as big as this in my life.”

 Of course, she didn’t wake up one day automatically a great dancer.

“I train for three to five hours every day,” said Wu. “When I come home, I stay up late to continue with whatever schoolwork needs to be done, but I tell myself that if I’m truly inspired to do something, I’ll do whatever it takes to achieve my goal.” 

Wu challenges herself to be a “well-rounded” dancer.

“My favorite style is hip hop, so I’m having to adapt to other styles such as jazz, contemporary, tap, and ballet,” she said. “Learning different styles also changed my perception of just being a ordinary dancer. It made me want to dream big and keep on training every day to be the best I can be.”

Wu’s professional goal is to tour with “big celebrities,” but dancing is also a reward in itself. 

 “To me, what it truly rewarding is the people I meet who genuinely show me a different side to dancing,” said Wu. “It makes me so excited to learn more and more.”