Sunday night's episode of NBC's "World of Dance" will feature a hip hop dance team that's the pride of the San Gabriel valley.
The all male dance team at Mark Keppel High School started out performing at pep rallies. Now they're competing on national tv for a million dollar prize.
MKAM, the all male dance team from Mark Keppel High School in Alhambra, performs with precision, power, and passion.
"At first I thought I was going to do basketball like a lot of these guys were," said Paul Lim, the team's captain.
Lim isn't the only one who surprised himself, and his parents, when he auditioned for MKAM.
"I saw the all-male dance team dance and I was shocked, I thought 'it actually looks pretty cool,'" said Nathan Cao, a senior at Mark Keppel High School.
"My family at first was not about dance, especially my dad," added Lim.
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Lim's parents eventually came around, especially after this team won numerous competitions, including the US Grand National championship.
One of their competition videos on YouTube caught the eye of a talent scout for the NBC hit show, "World of Dance," where they will compete this Sunday on national tv.
"I honestly didn't believe it because we are dancers who have only been dancing a couple of years," said Erick Moreno, a junior at Mark Keppel High School.
Within the Mark Keppel team, 8 languages are spoken, many come from immigrant families, and a few have had to leave the team in order to work to help support their families.
"We always feel like an underdog going into every single competition but I think that's what makes us do better," said Lim.
On "World of Dance," they'll be competing with those who've had years of professional training, but their dance teacher says these young men possess something money can't buy.
"This community has a very strong work ethic behind it," said Activate Arroyo, the team's dance teacher.
It's that work ethic that has landed them a shot at winning a million dollars, but their coach says he simply wants them to enjoy the journey.
"It isn't always about the end result. You're not going to win everything and you're not going to lose everything, but you're going to learn something about yourself from the journey that you take," said Arroyo.
