After three years on hiatus, Eleanor Roosevelt’s Korean Showcase returned to the big stage on Thursday, March 26th. Featuring performances of traditional fan-dance, taekwondo, competitive Korean dance, a singing competition, and more, the performers put on quite a show. For those of you who missed the show or who want a peek behind the curtain, this is the perfect place. But first, a brief history of the showcase at ERHS.
K-Club & ERKR at ERHS
In September of 2015, Mr. Huh, an ESOL teacher at Eleanor Roosevelt, formed the school’s Korean club with the intent of sparking interest in Korean culture through art and language immersion. The K-Club, as it would soon become known, gained quick momentum among students. “What began with an expectation of about 10 students quickly exceeded all predictions—more than 30 students signed up right away,” recalled Mr. Huh in an interview. The following year, ERHS reached a historic milestone, becoming the first school in Maryland to offer Korean as a world language elective, taught by Mr. Huh.
Formal Korean language instruction, however, was not the only major milestone for the K-Club that year. In 2016, Eleanor Roosevelt’s first Korean Showcase (ERKR) was celebrated. “A stage for diverse talent,” as Mr. Huh would call it, the showcase displayed student talents in modern art forms like K-pop dance and singing, traditional art forms including Fan Dance, Nanta (a famous non-verbal Korean musical), and Taekwondo, and student creativity in an art showcase and original plays written by Korean 1 and 2 students. After a few years of a growing showcase from 2016 to 2019, ERKR’s momentum was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Like the rest of the world, the performance struggled to find its footing in the wake of the pandemic. A successful showcase was hosted in early 2023, followed by a few years of hiatus. But this year’s showcase sought to bring ERKR to a new level of success.
The 2026 Showcase
Friends, family, and supporters packed into the auditorium on the evening of March 26th, eagerly awaiting the start of the show. Backstage, there was a similar, excited energy as students prepared for the opening performance. At 7:20 pm, the curtains opened to the words of HOLLYWOOD ACTION, a five-member dance performed by K-Club’s official dance team, LIMITLESS.
Students from ERHS and guests from neighboring schools displayed their talents in traditional and modern art forms throughout the evening. Fan dance and taekwondo, accompanied by live Korean drumming, showcased some of the rich traditional culture of the Korean Peninsula. During the singing competition, soloists and duos sang Korean pop songs, competing for the prize of $50. Laurel’s dance team, KCLC, teams from Bowie, FLEXON and KDC, as well as two teams from ERH
S, AMBITION and ANTIX, put up fierce competition in K-Pop dance, competing for $100.
During intermission, audience members voted for top performers in song and dance. After several non-competitive dances and a closing performance by LIMITLESS, the competition’s winners were announced. Chisom Ike represented Roosevelt and won first place in the singing competition. In the dance competition, FLEXON (Bowie) placed first, AMBITION (ERHS) won second, and KDC (Bowie) earned third place, closing the curtains on an exciting return of ERKR at Roosevelt.“As ERKR enters its second decade, the future looks bright,” concluded Mr. Huh. The K-Club, Mr. Huh, and the rest of ERHS eagerly look forward to a new era for ERKR.
