Awkwardness is a redundant reply and excuse for nearly everything. “I don’t want to do this, it’ll be awkward. I don’t want to ask her this, that will be awkward.” These are nearly automatic replies to the undesirable actions that many people are obligated to perform, either due to peer pressure or parental force. Well, the Awkward Dance Club is making no excuses; they are embracing their natural selves, and making “awkward” positive and exciting.

In this club, everyone is invited to come and show off their various dancing styles, without the danger of being judged. Junior Vanessa Aviles commented, “I think my favorite thing about the Awkward Dance Club is probably the fact that we are kind of like our own little family. None of us looks at each other and thinks, ‘Oh, hey, she’s dancing like a weirdo,’ because we’re all dancing like weirdoes.”

Junior Zowie Gomez, a member of the Awkward Dance Club, described the general activities of the club; “We plan little dances that we want to do and make them as awkward and fun as we can.”

Currently, the Awkward Dance Club is relearning the “Sherlock Dance” which they performed last year in the Homecoming Assembly. Gomez stated, “We’d stand there and there would be fake punching. Then we had someone jump through our arms to the music.”

Another dance the club frequently practices is the “Campfire” dance. Gomez stated, “Somebody will stand in the middle and try to be a fire while other people spin around them, dancing. And the more you dance the more alive the fire in the middle has to be.”

Senior Kathryn Wilde, the current president of the Awkward Dance Club, stated, “We meet in Mr. Larsen’s room, 2206, during lunch on Fridays; if he’s not there, we meet in the 2200 hall.” There are currently four regular members in the Awkward Dance Club, but in Wilde’s words, “we hope to get more.”

Wilde became interested in the club when Garrett, the president of the club last year, got her involved in weekly meetings. Wilde commented, “We can just go and have fun, and you don’t have to worry what other people think about you, because everybody’s awkwardly dancing.”

Aviles commented concerning her original interest in the club; “I wanted to start getting out of my bubble a little bit. I wanted to meet other people with the same interests that I have.” Joining the Awkward Dance Club, Aviles stated, allowed her to meet a lot of new people and become involved in school activities.

Gomez also explained her attraction to the club; “I find it really intriguing that we actually have something like that. I loved the fact that I could just awkwardly dance and be myself.”

The atmosphere of the club seems to have attracted a lot of these members. As Junior Clyde Raines stated, “especially the person running this; she’s just really open to new people.” The idea of being awkward in these club meetings seems to have contradicted itself. All four of the members expressed mutual feelings of ease during Awkward Dance meetings. Aviles stated, “It’s pretty comfortable there.”

However, the amount of people attending Awkward Dance meetings is beginning to dwindle. Gomez stated, “Last year we had about 12 members.” This year, the number has diminished to be about a third of that size. So if you hear the Awkward Dance Club calling your name, make sure you attend their weekly meetings in Mr. Larsen’s classroom, during Friday lunch.