This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Temple chapter.
Created in 2012, Dare 2 Dance has been gradually establishing their unique and well-choreographed presence on Main Campus and throughout Philadelphia. Founded by Bea Martin, Neha Sharma and Danzel Thompson-Stout, Dare 2 Dance was established to “create an unconventional space for dancers,” says Vice-President Bea Martin.
Discontented with her time with Outta Kontrol, a former Temple dance organization, Martin, Sharma, and Thompson-Stout sought out to establish a dance organization of their own. Despite their passion and talent for dance that’s evident in their performances, not all of the D2D members, including its founders have formally studied dance. Martin is a Neuroscience major that’s simply enjoyed the art of dance, a staple of the culture she grew up in during her childhood in Leyte, an island in the Philippines, “I never stepped foot in a studio,” said Martin.
While Dare 2 Dance may have initially been created by a group friends wanting an outlet to share their passion for dance, Martin says D2D has grown substantially over the years.
“Looking back from our first year in, we were discombobulated [and] not as organized as we are now….Now we’re really trying to carry our mission statement to Philly. We’re getting more involved in the community, getting more involved in the dance community,” she said. Not only will you see D2D at on campus events such as Her Campus Temple’s annual Mr. Temple pageant this year, but they’ve also involved themselves in a community by participating in programs such as Adopt-A-Block as well as working with Rubye’s Kids.
Martin’s responsibilities of assigning tasks to members and ensuring everything is running smoothly as VP of D2D is just one of several ways Martin has impacted student life at Temple. Last year, Martin took part in Temple’s National Coming Out Week videos. She and several others students were reached out to share their coming out stories through a series of videos. Martin says she was elated at the opportunity to diversify the faces of the LGBT community at Temple.
“There’s not much Asian LGBT representation here at Temple. It’s taboo in our culture, Asian cultures are very strict… I wanted to be part of the LGBT community here in Temple not just for the Asian community but for the LGBT community here in Temple,” said Martin.
Martin has also been an integral member of the Temple University Asian Students Association and Queer People of Color where she was the events coordinator. She also recently competed in this past October’s Miss Temple Asia 2014 in which she was a top 10 finalist. Outside of her time spent wearing many student activities’ hats on campus, Martin enjoys television binges and makes it a point to always be of service to her friends.