Sara Yao (1989 – 2023) was an enthusiastic K-Pop dancer and had extensive training with K-Pop, Hip-Hop, Urban and Street Dance since she was 15. She was part of a popular girl’s K-Pop crew that featured regularly on local TV shows, concerts and entertainment events in her home city in China.

Sara took the role of ‘Dance Captain’ at her university and taught classes to students in various age groups. She assisted student art and dance performing groups with training, choreography and program development for two years.

Wanting to return to her roots in K-Pop, Sara started her own K-Pop crew at CDT. In 2020, she planted the first seeds by inviting her fellow ballerinas to practice a K-Pop dance. This culminated into a successful K-pop and ballet gig – Pointe & Pop – at the end of 2020. In 2021, Sara shared her K-pop knowledge with many more new people, bringing the hottest moves to class and culminating in a performance at the National Portrait Gallery as part of Love Dance.