Ringo Renteria: SINI-HHA’s passionate newcomer
Renteria’s journey from a beginner dancer to an officer of the club.
SINI-HHA performs a variety of dances for UW’s dance showcase and other events such as the heritage dinner. The all inclusive dance group worked tirelessly for the end of the year showcase on May 21, 2022 // photo by Micheal Shoyhin
Written by Julia Kohut
Ringo Renteria and his sister lift their arms together, extend their legs to the side, turning fast as their hips go 90 degrees, and finish with a little booty jiggle while their smiles transition to laughter.
Renteria and his sister began choreographing their own pieces when they installed a large mirror in his sister’s room. They had no background in formal dance training, but they loved the dance scene and admired the energy from the dancers.
As he entered college, Renteria was nervous to dance in front of a group, but knew he liked to move his body.
Alone in the Ethnic Student Center, he looked back at his brown eyes, his hands twirling slowly in a circle above his head, fingers cutting the air. He was determined to find new dance partners.
In the swarm of people at Western Washington University’s Info Fair, he found two girls — one with two “Sailor Moon” messy buns, another with long brown hair falling to the sides — wearing matching sweatpants with the words “SINI-HHA” written down the leg. Respectively, it was Chelsea Chrystal and Kiana Daley, the vice president and president of SINI-HHA, an all-inclusive dance club on campus.
“They were so energetic, which made me want to go join them,” Renteria explained. “I wanted to match their energy.”
SINI-HHA was created from the Filipino American Student Association and the Western Washington University’s Hip Hop Association. They formed an alliance to create SINI-HHA.
Originally called “SINI-GANG” (a double meaning for a traditional Filipino soup), FASA created a space for Filipino students who wanted to dance, and subsequently expanded to make it inclusive for everyone.
WWUHHA was a group that allowed their club members to learn the history and the transcendence of the four elements that capture hip-hop culture: DJing, MCing, B-Boying and graffiti. Derived from African American and Hispanic cultures, words turned into songs accompanied by beats furthering the creation of B-Boying, formally known as break dancing.
Back in 2017, WWUHHA joined SINI-GANG to create their first showcase as an alliance. SINI-HHA fostered a stronger dance community for future dancers to produce an annual showcase. It became a dance club where everyone, regardless of experience, was welcome to learn how to dance and understand the cultures of dance.
Officer Maddie Miller explains SINI-HHA taught her more than just moves — it’s a way to learn the history of different dances, such as hip-hop.
“A lot of this history I learned through SINI-HHA my freshman year,” Miller said.
SINI-HHA helps dancers learn the origin of different styles, deepening their connection with the club overall.
“It would have been something completely forgotten,” Miller said. “I just am so grateful for what SINI-HHA has done in that aspect.”
SINI-HHA officers’ priority is to make sure people have fun, but also understand the importance of where different movement styles come from. Officers like Miller were able to teach the new generation of dancers about what she has learned, opening new opportunities to grow with her community.
“The atmosphere was like you have nothing to worry about, nothing to compete or to fight for,” said SINI-HHA officer Derek Rajah. “We’re just doing it for the fun of it, which is really no stress.”
Rajah choreographed SINI-HHA’s latest video based on Glass Animals and Denzel Curry’s “Tokyo Drifting.” The video was edited and produced by self-taught videographer Dante Check, who’s made videos for local musicians Sam Lachow and Addee. They filmed in the parking brigade of downtown Bellingham.
When Check was preparing to film, Rajah walked over to him, camera positioned facing down the parking lot. Rajah told him to be the first one to dance in front of everyone. In shock, Check obliged, and danced to Tokyo Drifting with flailing arms while his feet held a somewhat steady beat. The new dancers smile, releasing tension before filming.
“A lot of people look at dancers and they separate themselves from us,” Rajah explained. “It’s like, ‘oh they can dance and we can’t.’ But if you let someone who doesn’t dance or who looks uncomfortable go first, it just releases all the anxiety.”
Similar to Renteria, Rajah had no formal training before he came into SINI-HHA. Now, Rajah is one of the main choreographers.
Dancing in front of other people for the first time is nerve-wracking. However, nerves never beat Renteria’s passion as he learns every dance presented from SINI-HHA’s choreographers. He spends at least 14 hours a week practicing for SINI-HHA and other dance groups like Khemical Showdown. During one of his first shows, sweat dripped off his forehead as he slipped into another outfit, repeating this process until the end of the show.
“I did not expect to feel this way about dance,” Renteria explained with a smile.“The first practice wasn’t that hard. I feel like that’s what made me like it because I actually got it.”
He enjoyed the choreography going forward because it was easy to learn.
A dancer can communicate and express parts of themselves they can’t put into words. The itch to dance is the ability to express in a different way with other people who feel similarly.
Long-time dancer Chelsea Chrystal wanted to help create a space that is inclusive for all beginners. Her passion for dance stuck with her, even through college.
“I got about halfway through my freshman year and I was like ‘I hate this life, I need to dance,’” she explained, persuading her to return to the community.
Chrystal was president during the COVID-19 pandemic, where the club ran virtual practices. She said it was difficult to communicate during the pandemic, let alone communicate with one’s body.
“The first year back in person, we had to do a lot of rebuilding of the club,” said current president Kiana Daley. “We kind of wanted to do something with the showcase that represented how far we’ve grown over the last year.”
One of their latest showcases is based on their growth as a team. “Muse,” is a three act showcase: destruction, creation, and preservation. Each act depicts different choreographers and their evolution of the piece since the start of the quarter.
“ I honestly think we were joking about doing “Romans Revenge” by Nicki Minaj,” Daley explained. “Then we were like, ‘oh, honestly a Greek or Roman theme would be super cool.’”
The double meaning of “muse” describes each choreographer as a different god or goddess that picks a song that relates to their theme.
Now, in person, they practice for the showcase in Academic West’s lobby and the Fairhaven commons. Passersby can see the group swinging their limbs, jumping into a squat and shimmying backwards in the overhead lights of these common areas. By the time they are onto their next move, the bystander sneaks by quickly. Or sometimes, they avoid the energetic team altogether.
Renteria remains to be in each choreographer’s routine for the showcase, ready to jump into different costumes for the next number. From the beginning, SINI-HHA officers supported him throughout the process of developing his craft.
“How much kindness and the support they give you when you’re a beginning dancer is to show you that they really care,” Renteria said. “And now the practices that are going towards the showcase, it’s the same kind of energy, which is kind of insane.”
Check, to Daley and Miller — each person described Renteria the same way: passionate. His passion made him become an officer next year. Renteria knows he’ll bring the same joy and passion to the club despite having no formal training.
“I always knew that I wanted to get better at it, but I didn’t expect to get better at it, ” he said. “I made a lot of progress!” He explained, smiling wide towards a passersby.
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