By Pham Tran
Like the one in their name, H1VE unites under the lights and dances their hearts out on stage.
Bee Music Art Culture Center was where sophomores Audrey Nguyen, Jacquelyn Nguyen, as well as the other seven girls, became a hive mind. The K-pop teenage dance group is a branch of their parent group, Project: KND. H1VE was established last year with five members and gained more as the year moved on; now the group is settled with nine passionate girls, all sharing the same love for dancing.
For H1VE, they don’t just come to practice to learn a new dance and go home, they want to showcase their talent and translate it into their movements on the dance floor.
The call from their hearts tells them to go above and beyond as dancers, whether on the street or on stage. As H1VE members, they have a team where their love for dancing can foster.
“I used to dance in those small performances in front of Phuoc Loc Tho, so it got me interested in dancing. That’s why I wanted to join a team to see how performing with other people is like,” Jacquelyn Nguyen said.
Every H1VE performance can’t live without the three C’s: choice of song, choreography, and confidence. Their dance instructors, Saki Noda and Yuki Noda, who are members of Project:KND, have accompanied H1VE from their very first days as student bees until they became professional dancing bees. Every chosen song has its own album colors that create a palette for H1VE’s outfits and makeup. For instance, with the group’s most recent performance at the OC Japan Fair, H1VE decided to go with a black-silver theme to match their hip-hop song, “UP” by Karina from K-pop music group Aespa.
Dancing in front of an audience can be nerve-racking, yet it could never make the passion in them fade.
“When I’m on stage, I look around and in the crowd, I find my friends and family … and dance for that one person there. So it’s kind of therapeutic after I’ve said, hey, I’m here and let me just show you what I got,” Audrey Nguyen said.
At a dance competition, the infectious energy that you felt is definitely from H1VE. Although the girls are considered to be the younger age group in this world of K-pop dance, this doesn’t define the overall quality of their performance.
The girls’ favorite memory has to be their time at the international K-pop Cover Dance Festival (KDCF) competition, in which the winner gets to perform in Korea. H1VE easily passed their preliminary round of hitting a certain number of likes for their online video submission. They then made their way to the second round, which took place at the well-known Grammy Museum in Los Angeles.
“I feel like the community is very loud and supportive. So whenever a specific part of the song comes out, you just hear a big, loud crowd when you do a certain move,” Audrey Nguyen said.
Unfortunately, H1VE did not win the stage. However, this is only the beginning for the group, as the journey ahead may hold many surprises and chances to discover themselves.
“Every time I’ve watched our performances from last year, it was just hard to watch. Like, really cheesy. I didn’t really think the group would succeed this far. But now we’re at OC Fair Japan, big stages now and I think this is our first step in actually making an impact in K-Pop cover [dance],” Audrey Nguyen said.
Being on a team, after all, is not necessarily about the recognition or the fame you earn, but good communication with your members and embracing each other’s mistakes is what will get you to the finish line you dream of, just like H1VE.
This article was originally published in the 2025 RED Magazine. Stop by room 306 to pick up a copy.
