Before 803 CREW entered the USC scene as a six-person team, and certainly before the dance troupe pulled off a breathtaking first place win at Atlanta's Original Korean Festival, there was just a girl dancing in her room.
The passion which would lead to 803 CREW's creation began when co-founder Noly Tran was young, falling in love with K-pop after being introduced to the genre by a cousin. Growing up she learned complicated choreography to record "mini-covers," reel-length dance videos set to Korean pop songs and remixes, on her personal Instagram, though she felt self-conscious enough to block high school friends before posting.
When Tran transferred to USC in her sophomore year, she barely knew anyone but used her love of K-pop dance to forge connections, starting 803 CREW with a friend in October 2022.
"I made 803 to find my people. I wanted 803 for others to find a place where they can be comfortable and also do what they love."
Two years into its existence, this core of support and community has helped 803 CREW grow just as Tran hoped, expanding from just six founding members to a troupe of seventeen dancers. With the support of her growing team, the embarrassment she felt in earlier years is nowhere to be seen, and Tran is now captain of a dance troupe which shares its performances with hundreds over social media.
"It just makes me happy for my younger self, because I did it by myself, but now I'm doing it with other people," Tran said. "Every time we have a competition or performance, we would have more supporters coming up to us and following us and messaging us, and it's very motivational."
Their polished social media feed and engaging competition performances draw in these supporters, but just as charming is the grit and meticulous care behind 803's success. In the past year, 803 has added an official videography position and cemented their posting schedule on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. From editing their own mixes to perfecting choreography and practice schedules, the road has not been simple.
Veteran member and sub-captain Sophia Cong has seen the team's rapid growth in the last few years, as well as the dedication it took to get there.
"Just the whole structure of us has changed," Cong said. "We know when our dance practices are, we are being reached out to for dance competitions. It's a really big change for just two years, but it's really good to have a solid base for us."
Though the group only had about a month to learn the choreography for the Atlanta routine, Cong was impressed by members' dedication at every level. For two hours twice a week, captains enthusiastically taught choreography while sub-captains, including Cong, tweaked and added to polish the routine.
"I was super, super proud of all of us for putting our all," Cong said. "I was shocked that we actually did it in just a short period of time."
On top of the competition win, however, co-founder Tran considered another kind of victory—a realization of her original goal for the organization. To her, the win in Atlanta meant she had succeeded in building and sharing the community she herself had needed when she arrived at USC.
"I didn't really care about the win," Tran said. "I really cared about like, my members and like, this is what I wanted 803 to be originally. I wanted it to be a family."
Ally Childress, a freshman who competed in Atlanta, has experienced this sense of community firsthand.
"803 has probably been my biggest opportunity to make friends and kind of push me out of my comfort zone a little bit, because I'm a pretty shy person, but I've become genuine friends with so many of the people," Childress said.
Looking to the future, Tran is trusting members like Childress to continue 803 CREW's culture of friendship and hard work after the graduation of its earliest dancers.
"When I graduate, it is out of my hands, but just by their emotions and just looking at them, I feel like they'll be able to continue it," Tran shared.
