Nenna Akpaete (President)
Currently a senior in Wharton, Nenna has been dancing since she was 5. After performing with a
Nigerian Dance group for a little over 8 years and being the captain of a hip hop group in high school,
Nenna grew to love the spotlight. When she left the Maryland suburbs she searched for a dance group
that could become her family and found Hype. Her commitment to the group has escalated from
dancer, to secretary, to vice president and finally President and her love for the group has grown
exponentially. She is excited to make this year the best yet.
Brian Hsia (Vice President)
Brian Hsia, also known as Bboy Abrasian, started dancing sophomore year of high school in Windsor,
Connecticut. Starting with breaking, he slowly branched out into hip hop as well. He was President of
the breaking group back in high school during senior year, dancing for hours on end and performing for
several school events. Breaking has been a stress-reliever, a way to make best friends, and something to
look forward to everyday. With the rigors that work and premed studies create, Bboy Abrasian survives
life at Penn with dance and Hype.
Cassandra Garraud (Secretary & PR Co-Chair)
From ages 6-12 Cassandra developed a relationship with dance through her ballet/jazz classes in NY.
Throughout high school, Cassandra became enthralled with the catchy rhythms of Hip Hop, Compa,
and Dancehall music and the trendy moves that complement them. Coming into Penn, Cassandra
wanted to join a group that would allow her to strengthen the dance styles she is accustomed to and
introduce her to new ones. As a Biological Basis of Behavior major, Hype gives Cassandra a way to
take the edge off a stressful week. Cassandra plans on utilizing Hype to express herself through dance
and de-stress until she graduates in 2012.
Divij Damodhar (Business Manager)
Divij started dancing in the 10th grade and has been interested in hip-hop ever since. Lacking any
professional training, he started out picking up steps from various dance videos. That was followed by
taking part in inter-school dance events during high school. Dancing with Hype is just what Divij needs
to get away from the intense workload of being an engineering major
Kiara Davis (Dance Chair)
Kiara was a dedicated member of her dance team at her high school in Chicago. Despite her lack of
previous formal training, her passion for dance grew motivating her to take modern, hip-hop, and jazz
dance classes, and combine the styles to choreograph an original piece for her senior May Project.
Kiara joined Hype not only because she loves the diversity of dance styles it showcases, but also
because she wanted to challenge herself as a dancer. Until she graduates in 2014, Kiara knows that
dance will continue to have a special place in her life. Kiara thanks her beloved friend and former
dance team member, Faith Dremmer (1992-2010), for inspiring her to dance each and every day.
Nanette Nunu (PR Co-Chair)
Nanette Nunu has been dancing for about 10 years, taking classes in a variety of styles including Hip
hop, jazz, ballet, lyrical and tap. She belonged to a hip hop competition team that really instilled in
her the fine art of performance and hard work. She enjoys a variety of musical styles as long as she
can move her body to them. She joined Hype in efforts to regain the family feel that she had in her
younger years as a studio dancer and she knows Hype will be the perfect way to relieve the stress of the
Wharton curriculum.
Tracy Lee (Show Co-Chair)
Tracy is a junior majoring in theatre arts and also show chair of Hype. Tracy first starting dancing as
a freshman upon joining a street dance team called 'Harie' while on exchange at Yonsei University in
Korea, and became especially fascinated with the 'waacking' style of dance. She holds great passion
for dancing and performing, and is also in love with musical theatre. She is very proud to be a Hype
member and excited for the next annual show. Outside of Hype, she is involved with Penn Singers,
Penn Players and the Theatre Arts Program Productions.
Jenny Kim (Show Co-Chair)
Jenny Kim took her first ballet class in NY when she was 5 and has been dancing ever since. She
has been trained in ballet and jazz and she started hip-hop as a freshmen in high school. Jenny has
also worked with traditional Korean dance. In high school, she took regular classes and workshops
at Broadway Dance Center and was Co-President and Co-Founder of Hunter Dance Company. She
also participated in and choreographed numerous dance pieces for cultural shows. Jenny is extremely
excited to be dancing this semester and expressing herself through Hype.
Misha Chakrabarti (Internal/ External Relations Chair)
Tumbling in from blustery Boston, Misha comes from a thirteen year career as a nationally-ranked
competitive gymnast. While on Hype, Misha transferred his gymnastics skills to hip-hop, bboy, and
contemporary but has also explored new styles, including salsa and bhangra. When he joined the team
his freshmen year, he was excited to find a place where he could have fun and express himself through
dance. Now, coming into his fourth and final year at Penn, Misha is glad to have discovered a lifelong
family in his Hype teammates.
General Members
Christina Torres
Making her way to Philly from the "windy city" (Chicago), Christina is a senior in the college majoring
in Sociology. Dancing has been part of her life since the age of 6. It started with ballet, moved to
jazz, and then… she really started to explore! Hip hop was just the start. Christina, although most
comfortable in her jazz/hip hop fusion realm, loves to push herself to explore new styles. She loves
dancing bachata (what she considers to be, "the world's most sensual dance ever"), meringue, and salsa
and has even performed swing (fyi, she played the role of a dude!). Never backing away from the dance
floor, be on the look out for her hair-o-graphy in the clubs!
Kara Crutcher
Hailing all the way from the Windy City, dancing has always been a positive outlet for Kara. From hip
hop to ballet lessons, she has always had a passion for dancing. However, it wasn't until the past few
years that she was able to take her dancing out of her bedroom mirror. Joining Hype spring semester of
her freshman year of college fostered her dancing skills and provided a place where she could get crunk
and have fun while trying to maintaining her academic goals. Now a junior at Penn, Kara is a English
major and a French minor, who intends to keep on dancing her way throughout life.
Samantha Osborne
Samantha is so excited to be one of the newest members of Hype. Acting, singing, and dancing since
age 6, Sam has always loved performing. She's also a huge fan of community service, foreign films,
and long walks around her hometown NYC. A junior in the college, Sam is studying Anthropology in
the hopes of ultimately attaining a museum career. Cheers to my fellow Hypies! You're all amazing
people and it's been so much fun working with all of you!
Brittany Dickens
Born and raised in NYC, Brittany has been exposed to a range of dance styles, from underground
breakdancing to ballet performances in John Jay college. Brittany discovered her interest in dance
when she was a little girl, dancing ballet, tap, and West African in The Dance Theater of Harlem.
Although, she stopped dance to focus on high-school, she never lost her passion. Her favorite dance
styles are hip-hop and belly-dancing-a recent discovery. This girl hopes to add a bit of her own flavor
to the PennHYPE crew. :)
Sarah Jeng
"Dance to express, not to impress."
Sarah Jeng, a freshman in Wharton, from northern New Jersey, doesn't know when she discovered her
love for dancing; she only recalls her frequent one person dance parties in her room and basement,
dating as far back as she can remember. She hasn't practiced or perfected any styles of dance but loves
experimenting with her freestyle. Sarah participated in traditional Asian dance for years and recently
gained experience in hip-hop dance from Defined Movement, the junior team of the Bergenfield-based
Project D. Her season with them solidified her enthusiasm for dance and she can't wait to start dancing
with Hype this year!
Franklin Jeng
Franklin Jeng first became interested in dance in the 8th grade. However, it wasn't until sophomore
year that he started taking dance seriously. Although he began with breaking, Franklin found himself
falling in love with all kinds of dance. He developed a particular passion for hip hop and danced in his
school's dance shows sophomore through senior year. He even took up Latin dancing for a short while.
Dance has been and will always be a big part of Franklin's life. He hopes to branch out more and learn
many other different styles of dance while continuing to express himself.
Sarah Appeadu
Sarah first started becoming interested in dance in middle school when she tried out for her school's
step team and made it. Continuing on to her high school step and dance team for all 4 years, dance
became an even bigger part of her life. Music videos and her favorite TV shows- So You Think
You Can Dance and America's Best Dance Crew- continue to be integral in inspiring her. She loves
watching and performing many different styles including hip-hop, b-boying, contemporary, ballet, and
latin, even though she has never had formal dance training. Penn Hype is the perfect way for her to
have fun while doing something she loves with amazing dancers.
April Wu
April is a freshman in Nursing and comes from a small town in Los Angeles. Though she always had
rhythm, her real interest in dance probably began in middle school, when she realized how fun it was
to do the Cha Cha Slide at her best friend's bat mitzvah. Since then, her love for the Cha Cha Slide has
weaned, but her love for dancing to upbeat music is still strong. Although April has not had any official
experiences with dance, she isn't afraid to free-style to her favorite tunes in her room and break it
downnnnnnn to Ne-Yo. At the moment, April is most familiar with hip-hop and modern dance, but she
is ready to broaden her interests and experiment with new dance styles. April is eager to finally express
her love for dance in front of audiences and can't wait to perform with all these talented dancers!
Shray Kapoor
A freshman in Wharton, Shray started dancing in middle school out of pure fun. After some learning
from Youtube and realizing how much he loved dance, he began to dance in high school and started performing some of his personal choreography at events his junior and senior years. After joining
Hype, Shray finally found a way to structure his love for dance and is hoping to take his dance and
creative expression to the next level.
Alex Yoo
Alex Yoo never expected to become a dancer growing up. In middle school, he enjoyed watching
bboys on YouTube but never thought about trying it out himself. However, he joined his school's bboy
team called Enthalpy in his junior year because of a friend. Before he knew it, he started experimenting
with other dance styles such as broadway, contemporary, and hip-hop. During his senior year, he
became one of the captains of Enthalpy and choreographed a six minute act for the bboy team to
perform at his school's Asian Culture Festival. He also created a spin-off group called Entropy and
performed at his school's end-of-the-year talent show. Although he doesn't know what he wants to
major in while he's at the University of Pennsylvania, Alex will keep dancing as an integral part of his
life.
Amanda Langhorne
Straight from Buffalo, NY is a proud Hype Newbie, Amanda Langhorne. A Wharton sophomore,
completing a dual concentration in Marketing and Communications with a minor in Psychology,
definitely needed a relief system from the stress- and there was Hype. Dance has always had a special
place in her heart. She has experience in many forms of dance including tap, jazz, hip hop, cheer dance,
and african dance. She hopes to take these skills and put them to work with her new Hype family :)
Alex Guo
He is tough to find. You'll be lucky if you even catch a glance of him on Locust Walk. Fact of the
matter is, if Alex isn't eating or sleeping, he's workin' it out in the dance studio. For him, practice is
a ritual, the best part of his day. When he's rockin' to the music, there's no other thing he'd rather be
doing. Alex is kind of a nuthead too. They call him "Rips" because he's had a history of lower-body
wardrobe malfunctions during performance. Keep your eyes peeled!
