With its energetic performances and bright music videos, the music genre of K-Pop has gained significant popularity in the Western world over recent years.
A lot of it is due to uniqueness and passion exhibited in the dancing, according to stalwart K-Pop dance choreographers Choi Young Jun and Kasper Kim.
They were in Australia last week to run 14 K-Pop dance workshops, in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth.
The ‘The Kasper x YoungJun Dance Workshop Experience,’ hosted by The Academy Australia, attracted more than 500 people from various cultural backgrounds.
Mr Jun was a winner of Choreographer Of The Year award at the 2017 Mnet Asian Music Awards for his work with powerhouse K-Pop groups SEVENTEEN, TWICE and Wanna One.
He also recently worked on the reality television show Produce 48 as one of the trainers and choreographers for the group Rumors.
He said the difference between K-Pop and other dancing styles was the effort put into tailoring the steps to each performer.
“When an artist or a team of artists come out, so many people work together as a team. Yes, the artist works very hard, but composers, choreographers, stylists, and hair make-up artists work together for a long time," he said.
"As one team, we prepare a lot of things through teamwork. I think our fans appreciate it.”
Kasper Kim is a well-known trainer and choreographer with South Korean–Chinese boy band EXO, contributing to songs such as "Call Me Baby" and "Ko Ko Bop".
The 25-year-old trainer is also part of 1 Million Dance Studio when not on tour with South Korean entertainment company SM.
He said the aspects which made K-Pop special were the clothes and the music videos.
"There are idol groups who dance very fiercely when they sing songs," he said. "I think the performance that looks different is the advantage of K-Pop.”
He explained the differences in dance styles with the US.
“I think American pop singers don't dance to the point where they can't breathe. Yes, we got a lot of influence from the USA. But, I think there are a lot more performances in K-Pop dance,” he said.
“There's a lot of movement and normally K-Pop singers are in groups. I think that’s the difference.”
Mr Jun stressed that K-Pop dancing was very different from dance styles in other countries when it came to movement.
“We do a lot of research on how to tailor the artist's best performance regardless of the genre," he said.
“For example, if there is a singer named ‘Black’, we are researching his or her movement and think ‘what's the charm of this Black's movement?’, or ‘what’s the tailored dance for him or her?’, ‘is this dance the right one for his or her song?’. I think this is the difference from other dances.”
Regarding the Australian seminars, Mr Jun was very surprised by the turnout and interest.
“It was awesome that everyone was working passionately and in tune with each other," he said. "Even though it was a big practice room, everyone worked so hard that it was very humid.”
He used the word ‘passion’ as a common theme exhibited by the attendees.
“I think the passion is the most important thing. I always say that you can improve in proportion to your passion,” he said.
“I believe this is true. When you like it, you see it a lot and do it a lot. After you sweat a lot, you can gain a skill naturally.”
Mr Kim, who became interested in K-Pop after watching pop duo TVXQ's ‘Rising Sun’ music video, said he always dreamed about being involved in the genre.
‘The Kasper x YoungJun Dance Workshop Experience’, hosted by The Academy Australia Source: SBS Korean
“When I watched this music video, I thought 'That's so cool, can I be like that?' and 'how does a person's body move like that?'. And now I've become a choreographer for SM and choreographing TVXQ. Looking back, I am surprised that I am doing a big part of TVXQ’s music videos.”
