DubH, a hip-hop club on campus, offers community and opportunities to connect while learning hip-hop dance routines.
The club was founded in 2001 and offers an outlet for students to learn hip-hop without any required experience. The club is self-funded and often holds fundraisers to raise money for costumes for their dancers.
Kayla Krohn, president of the DubH club and a senior majoring in interior design and psychology, said DubH is just a fun hip-hop club that is inclusive and one that club members try to make as enjoyable as possible.
Many members have never danced before, said Laura McCarthy, the events coordinator for DubH and a senior majoring in communication studies. McCarthy said DubH has members from all different spectrums, ranging from never doing hip-hop before to only studio dancing or simply being self-taught.
“I stopped dancing after fifth grade,” Krohn said. “I did show choir in high school, and that’s like my only experience. I don’t even know if that counts as experience for hip-hop.”
Cassandra Slater, vice president of DubH and a junior majoring in animal ecology, said students can join DubH at the start of every semester. They’ll learn hip-hop dance routines from choreographers who are active students at Iowa State, Slater said.
Members of the club can select a dance the choreographer has arranged and learn it over the semester.
“Depending on what dance people choose, they’ll have an hour and a half practice each week,” Slater said.
McCarthy said students decide what dance routine they want to learn each semester by coming in and watching each choreographer’s routine. Then, students send out a Google Form and have members rank what dances they would like to be in from favorite to least favorite.
After being placed in a dance, McCarthy said members decide if they want to continue with the club. To officially join the club, find DubH on the Student Organization Database and sign a waiver.
Krohn said they also hold workshops for freestyling and events for the members to get to know each other better.
“This semester so far, we have had a sand volleyball event. We just went outside, played some sand volleyball and brought some popsicles,” McCarthy said. “In previous years we’ve done bowling socials, and towards the middle of this month is a ‘friendsgiving’ with a bunch of different board games—Just Dance [Wii Game], and stuff like that.”
Krohn, McCarthy and Slater have all been in DubH for multiple years now and said it has brought them a lot of connections. Krohn joined the second semester of her freshman year during the peak of COVID-19, and she joined the club to get to know more people.
“When I first joined, I was super quiet, but then I started talking to more people and getting out more. It’s just a really good community, and they’re super supportive,” Krohn said.
Slater said DubH has been her favorite part of college, as it allows her to see her friends after a stressful day while doing something they are passionate about.
“I can have the worst day possible and then go to practice and everyone is just so lively and so happy to be there,” McCarthy said.
DubH has an end-of-the-year show where all dances are displayed Dec. 1 at the Ames City Auditorium. Doors open at 6 p.m., and the show starts at 7 p.m., with tickets to be sold a week prior for $10 at the West Student Office Space in the Memorial Union. Virtual tickets are $5, and tickets at the door cost $10.
