If you are looking for a low-commitment, high-energy club on campus, look no further! Hip Hop Hawks is a student run hip hop dance club on Saint Joseph University’s campus. The club was founded in 2018 by two sisters who were students at St. Joe’s. Although the idea had been around for a couple of years, the sisters officially got the club up and running during the fall semester in 2018. Hip Hop Hawks Dance Club defines itself as “A place where all people, dancers or not, can come and have a fun time learning beginner/intermediate dances. Our purpose is to create a safe environment and outlet for those who want to express themselves through dance.”
Prior to Covid-19, Hip Hop Hawks would have performance opportunities on campus at events like Agape Latte, Relay for Life and even a showcase. Since Covid-19, there have not been large events like this held on campus, which made the opportunities for the Hip Hop Hawks to perform for audiences scarce. Despite the lack of performance opportunities, the club is still able to meet weekly to run its class as it would have pre-covid.
To get an idea of what a normal Friday meeting with Hip Hop Hawks looks like, I interviewed Mikayla Miranda. Mikayla Miranda is currently a senior at Saint Joseph’s University and has been a part of the club since it was founded in 2018. When explaining how a Hip Hop Hawks meeting goes, she compared it to a dance workshop. First, the class will get together to stretch and warm up. Then, everyone learns a pre-choreographed dance combo. Once the dance combo is learned, the club members will perform the combo all together and then in smaller groups. While performing, members take pictures and videos of each other performing the dance to be posted on social media.
“We welcome everybody on campus. You don’t need to be an amazing hip hop dancer. Most of us that are in the club are people who did dance when we were younger and still wanted a way to stay active in college on a low-commitment basis. You are able to come one Friday and then not come for a month. You can come every single Friday if you want because every class is different, so you are able to come whenever you want.” The Hip Hop Hawks Dance Club meets every Friday afternoon, around 4 p.m., in the O’Pake Recreation Center group fitness room. Check out @hiphophawks on Instagram for more information!
