For a dance education consortium, the Blue Belles traveled to San Diego, California with the company HTE Dance. Over the 5 day trip the team saw the sights of San Diego, and met with Jamile McGee from season 1 of So You Think You Can Dance.
Saturday night and Sunday morning, the girls took hip hop/jazz funk classes from the choreographer and So You Think You Can Dance contestant Jamile McGee. McGee won 3rd in season 1 of SYTYCD, and has been in music videos for Beyonce, Chris Brown, Rihanna and more. He has also choreographed for Wayne Brady tours, and several others, as well as taught multiple classes all over the country.
“Jamile was awesome, I loved him. He was funny, and his class was challenging.” Sophomore Maria Young said.

He pumped the girls up and they loved his classes.

“I thought he was a really good teacher and he really broke things down,” company leader, Anna Bozhkova, said, “He didn’t let us stop, he just kept going, ‘let’s do it again, let’s do it again’. He kept your energy up.”

The Blue Belles toured several places in San Diego, including the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, Old Town, Mission Beach, Coronado, Seaport Village, and Gaslamp Quarters.
The San Diego Zoo was the favorite spot for some of the girls. The zoo houses over 3,700 animals the Blue Belles were extremely lucky to visit.
“My favorite place was the Zoo because I got to see a lot of animals I’ve never seen before, and I learned a lot about them,” sophomore member at large, Kourtnie Labay said.

Gaslamp Quarters was another favorite where the girls enjoyed food and shopping. The area is known as the historic heart of San Diego and the center of downtown night life.

“I really like Gaslamp ‘cause I got Ghiradelli chocolate there. There was also this one really cute store, the Pink Zone. I spent so much money there.” Junior Member at Large, Katie Allison said.

Not only did the Blue Belles have a fabulous time in San Diego, but they learned some things about each other, too.

“We had a lot of fun in our room, too, because we were surrounded by our friends and had a lot of friendships grow in our room,” sophomore, Lyrik Koottungal, said. “I confirmed friendships that I know I will have forever.”