The 2023 Festival of Nations season has commenced, and with it come new leaders. This year, Japanese FON is led by sophomore Wengyan Cheong.

This year, traditional and modern Japanese music are being combined to create one collective performance. According to Weng, “This year’s choreography isn’t exactly hip-hop because it’s not as powerful as other choreographies, but it’s how many pop songs are choreographed.” The traditional dances are expected to follow a more contemporary style. 

Reflecting on her dance experience, Weng said, “I’ve danced since I was in Pre-K and started with ballet, but I freestyle most of the time. I think my dancing has improved after getting inspiration from so many different choreographers.” Weng continues to draw from her experience as a freestyler and applies it to her FON as she freestyles “everything to test out what works and what doesn’t.”

Freshman Megan Lee, a member of Japanese FON, said, “Even though there may not be a lot of people, I can tell Weng is a very patient and capable leader.” Reflecting on her own experiences, Megan said that Weng “takes her time making sure everyone understands the choreography fully, and so far, I’ve had a lot of fun in JFON.”

Although FON is one of the largest extracurricular events in the school, with hundreds of students participating each year, Japanese FON has historically had far fewer members than other groups.  Weng said, “I wish that there could be more students involved because it would fill the stage more. I know that having a lot of students in a FON is hard to handle, but I could focus on every person’s dancing level. ”

With new FON dances constantly in the works, she said, “My goal for [Japanese] FON next year is to encourage more people to join. With what I have planned this year, I think more people will be encouraged to join next year.”

Weng has high expectations for this season, and said that next to her fellow dance cohorts, “I think JFON will look just as cool.”