For this year’s FON performances, junior Stella Hwang and senior Jason He have re-established Korean-traditional FON (KT-FON), leading student dancers to represent traditional Korean culture on stage.
Although there is a Korean FON, it focuses on K-pop music with modern moves, while KT-FON pulls directly from the traditional Korean culture with the students playing the traditional Korean drums.
“It’s very important to understand that Korean music is more than K-pop,” Assistant Principal of Organization Ellen Fee said. “It has so much more cultural tradition and cultural diversity within the Korean language and culture.”
Junior Ashley Zeng, a FON dancer since freshman year, also said, “What sets KT-FON apart from the other FONs is that we incorporate dancing into the cultural drum routine we play. It isn’t mainly about dancing and moving your body, but more with instruments.”
This year, Ms. Fee decided to move FON performances a month earlier compared to previous years, giving FON leaders the responsibility of preparing dancers in a shorter time span.
Stella said, “My concern with FON being a month early is that it leaves a lot of FONs unprepared. I was watching the FON runthrough on the 23rd [of January], and you could tell that they were rushing.”
Regardless, Stella and Jason worked to prepare students for the performances.
“Stella is a very good leader,” freshman dancer Dylan Ng said. “She pushes us, and even though it’s very hard for her because we have so many practices and so many people who show up, she works through it, she posts videos, and she gives us a lot of resources so that we know what to do.”
Despite its very recent re-establishment, KT-FON has built a welcoming community for students passionate about traditional Korean culture.
Sophomore Connor Chen said, “We’re all friendly with each other and we help each other learn when someone doesn’t understand.”
“With Stella and Jason’s leadership, they will clear the pathway forward, so I anticipate that KT-FON will stay with us,” said Ms. Fee.
