Teens of Bay Area

To Chloe Hsia, a senior at Los Gatos High School, K-pop is more than just music — it’s an art movement that she has continuously strived to perfect. 

Her passion for dance started when she was just 5 years old. After a large banner at a dance studio caught her eye, Chloe urged her parents to sign her up for dance classes, marking the start of her dance journey.

Though, her relationship with dance hasn’t always been great. She began with Chinese dance, where flexibility was the standard. Early on, her dance teacher made comments on her body, leading her to feel increasingly self-conscious about herself. 

“I just felt like I didn’t belong at all,” Chloe said, “I was struggling with whether or not I should quit.”

But during quarantine, she quit her old studio and found her niche at Bay Dance Collective: Hip-Hop and K-pop dance. There, she was introduced to K-pop dance over Zoom when her dance teacher, Ms. Madi, taught her the choreography of Blackpink’s “How You Like That”. She immediately loved it and is now on the hip-hop competition team at Bay Dance Collective.  

“My favorite part of dance is the amount of joy it brings me,” Chloe said. “Whenever I am mentally drained, it becomes my safe space — it’s a place where I can forget about everything else and focus on dance.”

That’s why during her freshman year, she joined the K-pop Dance Club at her school and, over the years, rose to her current role as Vice President. 

“The feeling of just dancing together as a group is amazing, it’s like my second family,” Chloe said. “Part of it, too, is that I love being able to get to know new members, or people who haven’t danced before.”

The club is currently preparing for Unplugged, a talent show held at Los Gatos, where they will be performing “Girls Will Be Girls” by Itzy. The song’s fast tempo has made mastering the timing of the choreography rather difficult.

“Part of the challenge of being an officer is handling the drilling, answering members’ questions to clarify movements, and making sure everyone feels confident with the section before moving on,” Chloe said, “Of course, we always make sure that they are having fun as well.”

While mastering fast-paced choreography can be tough, Chloe sees every challenge as a part of the learning process.

“There’s always going to be struggles with dance, but that’s dance in a nutshell. If you don’t struggle, you’re not learning,” Chloe said.

This mindset has influenced her attitude towards trying new things.

“Sometimes things won’t work out, but that’s okay,” Chloe said, “Dance has taught me that you never just have one option, that there are always more opportunities to explore.” 

She carries this philosophy to assist her dance teacher at her dance studio, where she inspires children at her dance studio to explore and discover their own love for dance.

“Seeing kids follow their passion is one of the best things. It’s their smiles, laughter, and craziness that make it all worth it,” Chloe said.

In the future, she would love to collaborate with Aespa, a K-pop girl group, or ATEEZ, a K-pop boy group. She also plans to branch out into an official K-pop dance team that performs cover routines and films their performances.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself when you don’t get something right away. Go at your own pace and choose things that will challenge you enough to grow, but not too much that it overwhelms you. Push yourself, but don’t overdo it.”

– Chloe Hsia, 2025

Additional video of Chloe dancing with her hip-hop competition group: