ABOUT US / OUR HISTORY
Popcorn Gang, Popcorn Dancers, Popcorn Club, Stichting Popcorn
The “Popcorn Gang”
It all started in 1989 with a group of friends in the district of Dakota calling themselves “Popcorn Gang”. The group used to get together at the community center "Centro di Bario y Deporte Dakota" to organize different activities for the youth of Dakota. The Popcorn Gang performed at diff
erent birthday parties and sports events that were organized at the community center. It was the 18th of October 1994 when the “Popcorn Dancers” officially made their first presentation with 40 members of the Popcorn Gang. The first presentation of the Popcorn Dancers was during an activity at Plaza Betico Croes, which was held to raise funds for a foundation called “Cas Pa Hubentud". The reaction of the public was very positive and since then, the group received yearly many local- and international awards for their presentations. The “Popcorn Dancers” loved in our community
They have received recognitions from “Aruba Youth Award”,” Love and Peace”, “Samapiba”, “Premio Padu”, “Parlamento Hubenil”, “Departamento di Cultura Aruba”, Woman's Club of Aruba, CEMBRA, “Gang di Arte”, “FUDEKA” and the Aruban Government for their support & belief to the youth of Aruba and for being a good example for the youth of Aruba. Their dynamic and synchronized moves accompanied by their union and discipline led the group to different presentations, both local and international. They proved; that hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard, that the path to victory begins where the trails of passion and purpose meet. They proved that the youth of Aruba can mature with a healthy and positive mentality. Therefore Aruba Tourism Authority and other instances are using the dance group to represent the Aruban People & Culture during local and international events. They were honored to perform in different events during the Royal visits of his majesty King Willem Alexander and his wife Princess Maxima and her majesty Princess Beatrix. They are the official dance group for International Carnival Queen Election which is held every year in Curacao. They are proud that they are considered one of the best dance groups in Aruba. They have received recognition since 1989 till date from many radio stations, newspapers, and magazines as Aruba’s best Dance Group of the year. They have also received recognition from local magazine Focus as Best Dance group of the Decade and they also received an award in Barbados for being one of the Best Dance Groups of the Caribbean and they were awarded in Curacao for uniting the two islands through performing arts. In the Netherlands, they received recognition from the Aruban government as Cultural Ambassadors for the island of Aruba. The founder of Popcorn Club was knighted as "Ridder in Orde van Oranje Nassau" by the king of the Netherlands, his majesty King Willem Alexander. They are loved by young and old as they dance all kinds of music, such as local- and international folklore, street dance, oldies-, carnival-, Latin-, contemporary- and modern music; from there comes the slogan for Popcorn Dancers: “A pleasure for your eyes, ears, heart & soul”. The “Popcorn Club” one step forward
In 1994 the group had to take more responsibility towards their public who was considering them as local professionals. This called for a change in the structure of the group and name. They changed the name of Popcorn Gang to “Popcorn Club”. The internal rules and regulations of the Popcorn Club are called “Maishi”
The vision of the Popcorn Club is to have a community where the youth of Aruba can mature with a healthy and positive mind so that their lives will be better and the lives of the Aruban community will be better. To bring that vision into reality they have a yearly schedule where they educate, communicate, entertain and celebrate with the youth of Aruba by having them positively being engaged in social-, cultural-, recreational-, educational- and physical activities. During the year the Popcorn Dancers give local- and international presentations @ parties, hotels, cruise ships, seminars, and festivals. While the Popcorn Dancers perform weekly at different hotels on the island the Popcorn Team Members come together a minimum of 3 times a week to concentrate on their training, activities, seminars, workshops, and events that are scheduled for the team members of Popcorn Club. The slogan for Popcorn Club became: Educate, Communicate, Entertain and Celebrate. A member of the Popcorn Club is called a “Popcorn Soldier” with the motto: Striving for a better future. The Popcorn Soldiers are encouraged to make the most out of every opportunity; if something isn’t happening they make it happen. They don’t wait for a ship to come in, they swim out to it. They are aware that effort is a solo performance that only each one of them can control. A Popcorn Soldier values collaboration. They believe in a teamwork environment where people understand and believe that thinking, planning, decisions, and actions are better when done cooperatively. They recognize, and even assimilate, the belief that “none of us is as good as all of us.” From there their shout: One Team, One Heart
Being a Popcorn Soldier demonstrates their ability to work as part of a team and collaborate with others to achieve a common goal. If they have a leadership position they have the ability to take charge and accept responsibility. When they volunteer at local or international organizations, whether it’s cleaning the training room or helping with costumes for the show, giving classes, etc., it says a lot about their character and shows that they have the drive to work (for free, even!) and that they enjoy helping others. However, the dancers who perform at the hotels and private parties “Star Team” are being paid for their performance. What motivates the other dancers to enhance their dancing and leadership skills in order to belong to the Star Team and be able to earn some cash by doing their hobby. The leaders at the Popcorn Club are creative, energetic, and have an unshakeable belief in the potential of every Popcorn Soldier to achieve great things and make real contributions to the Aruban community and other international communities through their volunteering projects. It basically involves them with other people's lives and problems and can, therefore, be emotionally tough. They collaborate with the Popcorn Soldiers and their families and other team leaders in creating and carrying out recreation, service, arts, and learning projects. These projects identify and care for the unique gifts and talents of each Popcorn Soldier and assist them individually and collectively to find and “grow” their power. The foundation "Stichting Popcorn"
On the 23rd of September 2004, the Popcorn Club was registered as "Stitching Popcorn" at a local notary. The club is now a legal foundation approved by the local Government and registered at the Chamber of Commerce and is still self-supporting. Popcorn Foundation working with other foundations to educate the youth of Aruba
In 2004 the club also added acting to their schedule. Through dancing, they proved that the youth of Aruba can mature with a healthy and positive mentality, and through the acts, they aim to educate the youth of Aruba while entertaining them. They worked with foundations such as Women's Club of Aruba, Parlamento Hubenil, FADA, Wit Gele Kruis, Telefoon pa Hubentud, Famia Plania, Gang di Arte, CEMBRA, and Tur Cos Ta Posibel. They performed different acts to make the youth conscious about Drugs and Alcohol Abuse, Contagious Deceases transmitted through Unsafe S*x, Teenage Pregnancy, Aruba’s history during the Second World War, Human Rights and, Diversity & Inclusion. Motivating personal development and leadership to the youngsters
Trough the year the board of the Popcorn Club organizes seminars on Social Etiquette & Protocol, Dancing Etiquette, Team Building, Teenage Pregnancy, Effective Communication, Motivation, Time Management, Peer Pressure, Drug & Alcohol abuse, How to say NO, Emotional Intelligence & Personal Responsibility, Public Speaking, Master of Ceremonies, Soul Searching, Situational Leadership, Proposal & Budget Management, Things you must Give Up to Move Forward, Debate vs Dialogue, Nutrition/Healthy Life Style, How to Organize a Workshop, Makeup, Maslow Hierarchy of Needs, 7 Habits for Highly Effective Teens and Personal Branding
Stimulating, activating, and enhancing the talent and self-confidence of their members. The Popcorn Club organizes different types of events trough out the year in order to discover, stimulate and enhance the talent and self-confidence of its members. Through NEXT IN LINE, they aim to stimulate and enhance the talents and self-confidence of their members. During this talent festival, the Popcorn Soldiers battle each other with their talents. They compete against each other in singing, dancing, acting, and playback. During this festival, they also give special recognition to persons who supported Popcorn Club in a special way. The club celebrates yearly their anniversary with an event called ARUBA TA NOS, during this event they aim to educate their members in a festive way as much as possible about Aruba. How Aruba was formed, its people, its food and beverage, its flora & fauna, its habits, its monuments, its history, its games, its folklore, and culture. Through this event, they also aim to contribute to incorporating the Aruban culture and values in their foreign members. Every other year they organize a talent festival NOS CU NOS amongst all the Team Members to build up the team spirit between non-active and active Team Members. During this festival, the new Team Members and the Team Members of 1989 to the date of the festival can mingle and socialize and share their experiences. Family and friends are welcome to join this event. A vision that has been accomplished is a CD which contains different songs for year-round celebrations, from there the name POPCORN 365. The intention of the CD was that all the members should sell a minimum of 12 CDs a year. The funds gained were to help cover the expenses of the Popcorn Club as the funds gained by the Popcorn Dancers were not enough any longer to cover all the expenses of the Popcorn Club. While the CD was helping the Popcorn Club to continue with not charging the youth to participate in their projects. Since 2020 Popcorn Club is working with strategic local and international partners to accomplish its projects and is still based at the community center "Centro di Bario y Deporte Dakota" and is still self-supporting and is still not charging the youth any kind of contribution to participate in their projects.
