Freshmen year of college I had two choices: Audition for CADC or go for a Fraternity that I was very close to joining. Fast forward five years and I’m graduating UCI with a major in Studio Art which might as well have been a B.A in Competitive Dance Crew with a Minor in school sometimes.
There are no words in my vocabulary, no pictures or videos I can show you that will do any justice to my experiences of that time. Maybe someday it will come to me in one medium or another but until then, I leave you with a farawell note that CADC’s friend Omar left us before going back home to Davis… it is one of the best things i’ve ever read
This post is a lot of reading but it’s a post more for me than for anyone else. So if you make it through. Kudos
*side note Chaos is a CADC Alumni team
Dear ChAOS,
Over the past few months it looks like a lot of people have packed up
shop and moved on, well it’s time for me to do the same. When I came
down to Irvine three years ago, I pretty much only knew Sean, and the
Albertson’s plaza was the only place I knew how to get to without
getting lost. You guys opened up your family to me and made me feel
welcomed in a strange place.
Before moving down here I’d never even really seen a hip hop dance
crew live, and pretty much only saw videos online. Sean would tell me
how he’d come home at 6am during a hell week and I’d wonder why he was
working round the clock for a set that lasted ten minutes. I was
beginning to think you guys were practicing it in super slow motion or
something. I didn’t understand until I got down here and really saw
you in action. You guys work your asses off in those parking
structures. I’m pretty sure they’re going to have to change the
foundation at Mesa soon. All the hard work and sweat that goes into
making a performance sharp, clean and on point is something no one can
really appreciate unless they see it themselves.
Not only did you let me sit in on practices and meetings and whatnot,
but I was given the privilege of dancing on ChAOS in 2006. Being a
bio major, I had never been a part of something involving the
performing arts, so I was reluctant at first. Nothing in bio really
requires you to be on stage in front of a bunch of screaming people.
Being grandfathered into ChAOS not even putting in the work to get on
CADC is something really awesome you guys did. To whoever made that
mistake, I mean decision, I am really thankful because it was
something I would have otherwise never experienced and I will always
remember. Actually, to be completely honest, I danced on ChAOS all
for Quyen. On stage I was more out of sync than his first performance
video, so now people have something new to laugh at. It’s all for
love.
On top of all that, what I am most thankful for is you letting me
live in the headquarters, the base camp of operations, The Apartment.
Not only did you give a guy a place to stay, what a place it was. I
had heard stories about 79 Cornell and the revelry that went on there
since I was a freshman in Davis. Sean would come back and tell tales
of wild parties and crazy goings on, but I didn’t believe. The first
day I got to Cornell after driving down from Davis, I walked in the
back gate but wasn’t sure if I had the right place because there were
two Vietnamese guys giving each other haircuts. Later I was to learn
they were the great Thomas and Quyen. I walked inside and sat on the
couch and introduced myself to Louis. When I sat down I said “I’m the
guy who’s supposed to be living here for a while,” and he said,
“Really?” I was like uh oh, this might not go too well. But despite
unsure beginnings, over the next few months and years all of us got to
know each other and become real close. I’d like to make an
interesting side note here that I lived in Cornell for two and a half
months before I even met Danny. But Cornell was a special place, not
only for the endless crown royal shots and occasional nakedness, but
for the history you knew was there. With all the pictures and
memorabilia on the walls, you could start your own Chilis. But that
just reminded you of the family that built that house through the
years. From Panteg to Piamonte. To those who never got the
opportunity, I’m well aware of the honor it was to be able to live
there with you guys, and I am greatly thankful for that.
With CADC you have something special you should really cherish and be
proud of, even beyond the other teams I’ve gotten to experience. Well,
first of all, you guys are fuckin good at dancing, but it’s more than
that. You guys are la familia. Everyone on the team genuinely cares
about the team. No one dances for self or tries to be Mr. Superstar
(yall know I got that covered). You all recognized that success comes
when the team does well as a whole. You help and encourage each other
to no end, and that was really inspiring to witness. I think that
nothing brings people closer than experiencing hardship or hard work
together, and like I said before you guys work it to the bone. Seeing
all the alumni come back after so many years was amazing. While most
people are happy to flip the bird to people they knew way back when,
ChAOS alumni show up in full force. That should prove to the newbies
that they came upon something special here. That even after you think
you’re away and gone, CADC ignites some kind of fire in you that’ll
make you want to come back. You probably know this, but you guys rock
for all that.
So, I guess three years is a good stint. It was an action packed
three years, from all the performances, to ChAOS, to the parties, to
the camping trips, to the groupies (oh yes, I used my association to
the fullest), to crazy old Russian ladies. I’d say it was a solid
run. I’ll remember you guys forever, and I hope to see you all before
go. You should know that you’re good people, I love you guys. God
bless.
-omar
F E N G
P.S. Thank you for all the replys for the last blog post I definitely enjoyed reading all of your thoughts
