Name: Kevin Zhai
Year: Junior
Major: Material Science Engineering, minor: computer science
Hometown: Montgomery, Alabama (I’m a southern guy)
Describe yourself in three words.
Restless, Approachable, Idealist.
What are you involved in at Penn?
My biggest thing is West Philly Swingers. I’ve done Swingers and Club Tennis since Freshman year. I’m also in Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. Last semester I started doing Peer Mentoring, through PAACH, the Asian American Community House. They match up upperclassman leaders with incoming freshman who apply to be in this program.
What is your position in Swingers?
I am Communications, which is kind of like External VP. I’m our liason for the troop. I manage inter-group relationships, our collaborations and guest performances. I’ve been doing it for two years; I started my sophomore spring.
For those who don’t know, how would you describe West Philly Swingers?
It’s not a super well-known group because our style is kind of different. It’s swing dancing, an American dance that originated in the ‘20s and ‘30s. We do a style called lindy hop, which is a 6 and 8 count dance style. It’s a really bouncy, energetic, fast-paced dance. Besides our own shows, we have weekly lessons with pros who live in the area. We are also very engaged in the Philadelphia Swing community. Essentially, Philadelphia has this community of swing dancers, mostly adults, who enjoy doing it as a hobby. They host weekly dances in the area. In Swingers, we are required to go to at least one social dance every two weeks. Pretty much you just go and they play music in this big room. It’s fun! You say hello and ask someone to dance and after the song is over you say “okay thanks, that was great.” And then you walk in opposite directions.
It sounds like speed-dating with dance!
Yeah. And after a while you start to see familiar faces. It’s a very social dance by nature. The best part about it is everyone is super friendly. It’s just a fun dance. Social dancing is definitely one unique aspect about us and what we do. Every month we host a dance at Penn for the greater Philadelphia community. Other schools, like Delaware, bring their clubs to our monthly dance.
What was your dance experience before Penn?
Growing up in Montgomery, Alabama, there wasn’t really a scene for any kind of dance. It was mostly just ballet or contemporary and mostly for girls. But I knew I really wanted to do something. I don’t have any formal experience. I never took any classes. I just knew that at high school parties when they played the two-step, I just liked to dance.
How did you end up in Swingers?
At FPAN, I was super excited to see all the different dance groups. So, I marked through the program what I wanted to try out for. I didn’t know what swing dancing was. I actually went to the auditions by accident. I had seen a flyer for CityStep. I heard they went out into West Philly and did community service through dance. I got an email from Swingers and I thought this must be it. So, I went to try out. There was swing music playing and I was so confused. I asked, “Do you guys do community service?” And they were like, “not really, but we swing dance!” I was there already so I might as well stay for try-outs, right? Our auditions are super fun. Because it’s a social dance, they teach some moves and you dance with everyone in the room. It’s not stressful at all. I had a ton of fun so I stayed!