Few students participated in the in the Vibe Junior Competition along with their teams on Nov. 15 at the Redondo Beach Performance Center.

Two Irvine teams, Underground and Kaba Kids, participated in this competition along with nine other teams from South California  Additionally, ten exhibition teams performed but did not compete.

Underground’s performance during the first half earned fifth place and a positive reaction from the crowd.

“The competition went really well. Although we didn’t win [first place], everyone put their heart out on the stage, and that’s what really counts in the end,” senior Bryan Bee, who recently joined Underground, said.

Through this competition, many new relations were built.  “Our strength is our family bond and how we care for each other. Our weakness is that we have a lot of newbies this season” Bee explained. “One of our directors( also) got injured this season, and that motivates us to work extra hard for him.”

Kaba Kids also performed well and trained hard for this competition in order to achieve it’s goal.

“We had technical goals such as having clean formations and angles, projecting more energy, and differentiating between the styles and textures of each piece in the set, but our main goal was just to leave the stage with no regrets,” senior and Kaba Kids performer Tiffany Chen said. “I thought that our performance on stage was better than any run-through we’ve done at practice.”

Kaba Kids members said they were confident in their performance and believe that their hard work paid off.

“Kaba Kids is a top priority in all of our lives, and many team members see this team as an escape from the rest of the world,” Chen said.

The family-like feeling shown by both Underground and Kaba Kids towards their team members helps the team come closer and strive for their goals together. “Since Kaba Kids is a family, the directors are like the parents. Their love and care for the team is unconditional, and we all really appreciate the time and energy they put into us,” Chen said.

A Japanese team, Izumi Dance Company, won first place this year followed by San Diego team, iLL Habits.