This past summer, the Hip Hop Dance Club (HDC) at NAIT held its first-ever dance showcase at the Old Strathcona Performing Arts Centre. Promoted as the “HDC Showcase,” the sold-out event was attended not only by the club’s members and supporters, but also by different dance groups and enthusiasts in Edmonton. In a LinkedIn post, former club President Allyson Hamor shared that audiences described the event as “one of the smoothest, most entertaining events seen from a post-secondary dance club this year.”
HDC considers this June 7 event to be its most significant external achievement since its founding in 2017. This was the first time the club took the lead in organizing an event of such magnitude, where 18 groups and individuals made up the roster of performers. Usually, it is HDC’s various subunits under its performance team — named “S112” after the NAIT classroom HDC uses — that participate in other dance showcases.
“We want our performers to be able to represent HDC in the best way that they can through the performances.”
Despite the success, current club President Gavin Kuang said the event was not intended to be a regular or annual occurrence. According to him, there are three major dance events held in Edmonton each year. One of the three annual events, United Dance Edmonton’s summer showcase, was canceled so the United dancers could prepare for a competition. This gave the HDC an opening to organize their own showcase.
Kuang said United made the announcement in 2024. “So just knowing that there was going to be an empty space with no events in the summer, which is when United happens, we thought if anyone should step up, it should be HDC.”
The event was also meant to be a special send-off for Hamor, who was concluding her two and a half-year term as President of the HDC. She had been at the helm of the club since it was reorganized in 2022, when NAIT clubs were allowed to resume operations after COVID-19 restrictions were eased.
“So we wanted to do the showcase for her, but also for the other dancers in Edmonton,” Kuang said.
Now, Kuang is getting used to his role as HDC’s new President while recruiting NAIT students for the club’s expansion. Since the club’s performance directors are soon retiring, the club also needs to fill this crucial role. In the meantime, HDC’s popular weekly drop-in classes and their performance teams “will continue to stay active.”
But Kuang is in his third year at NAIT, and is considering what will happen once he retires as HDC’s President. Kuang views his role as one who works to ensure the continuity and relevance of the club for future NAIT students. “My goal right now is to hopefully offer HDC into the hands of NAIT students,” he said. “Every year and every semester, the structure changes. People come and go, and we have to adapt either our team or our content to fit what we can or cannot do.”
He says he wants the current HDC leadership to be ready “to pass on [the club] to the next generation of dancers, of passionate students that want to do events, that want to perform for people, for NAIT, for other groups and other events in Edmonton.”
“We want our performers to be able to represent HDC in the best way that they can through the performances,” said Kuang.
Students can find out more about the Hip Hop Dance Club at NAIT by visiting Ooks Life or following @hdcnait on Instagram.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published in the Nugget’s October 2025 print issue. Read it online here.
Feature image supplied by Gavin Kuang
