Senior break dancer amazes in quad day

As senior Miharu Morishita stepped out into the quad during the seniors’ quad day on Sept. 30, the audience fell silent. All eyes were on her as she executed a perfected “1990,” which involves standing on her head and contorting her body into a twist. From her first trick to her final pose, the hundreds of onlookers responded with applause and cheers.

Morishita is a Japanese foreign exchange student whose dancing talents were unknown to most of the school until her spotlight routine in senior quad day.

“Some of the juniors found out that she break danced and they had a [break dance] session about two weeks before quad day,” said senior Peter Hsieh, who choreographed the dance preceding Morishita’s performance. “We finally met her the Wednesday of Homecoming week, and she put together her routine in a couple of days.”

Morishita was shocked and flattered when the seniors approached her with the possibility of doing a solo in their dance for quad day.

“I was surprised, happy and looked forward to connecting with my new friends,” Morishita said.
Morishita’s performance amazed much of the senior class as well as the rest of the school.

According to Hsieh, Morishita is possibly the only girl breakdancer at Saratoga since the class of ‘09. She can even execute moves that many of the male breakdancers here cannot do.

“We were definitely lucky to have her perform, seeing as our class doesn’t have any break dancers,” Hsieh said. “She also brought incredible enthusiasm and positivity, and I don’t think anyone could help smiling when watching her perform because she always looked so happy doing it.”

Morishita started dancing, specifically hip-hop dancing, when she was 4. At age 9, a mentor introduced her to breakdancing, and from there on Morishita has been dedicated to that form of dancing ever since. She finds dancing to be a great way to express herself as well as to connect with other people.

Morishita was also part of a break dance team back in Japan.

“[The team is] called “Keep It Real.” The team has been together for seven years,” Morishita said. “I’m the youngest. Some members are around 30. I call them brothers and sisters.”

Morishita currently stays with senior Valerie Peterson’s family. She partook in a foreign exchange program to learn about American culture.

“I want to be able to speak English and experience American culture! It’s one of the ways to realize my dream. And I like to challenge something, so I decided to come here,” Morishita said.
Morishita will stay in America for a year before heading back to Japan.

“I miss my mom, dad, my younger brother, break dancing friends and my puppy, Chako,” Morishita said. “[But at Saratoga] I look forward to break dancing with my friends, working on the drama show, prom, practicing English and making many new friends.”