Blackpink, BTS and Gangnam Style - all part of the K-pop craze, which has been sweeping the world with its popularity and transforming the style of music into a worldwide cultural phenomenon.
Ellie Jay, Katrina Batten and videographer Claire Eastham-Farrelly went to a K-pop dance class taught by choreographer and dancer Rina Chae at TAPAC, the Auckland Performing Arts Centre, to find out what it's all about.
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Chae told First Up that K-pop’s simple definition is just Korean pop music, but for the fans it’s taken on a whole new meaning and adoration for the idols.
“I would say that it’s not just the dancing that’s gotten the K-pop craze around world, I would say it’s actually the singers and the band, the girl groups, the boy bands, and their visuals or fashion, hairstyle, their music videos, dancing as well as catchy music, all in one package.
“But, of course, the dancing definitely took over because it’s a big part of the visuals, so now globally everyone’s going to learn K-pop dance, it’s pretty much a choreography that the idols do on stage that people follow.”
She says she began to notice in the late ‘90s signs that the craze was taking over across Asia, in the likes of China and Japan.
“Then out of nowhere in 2013 when I got to perform for an event in LA called K-Con that was the first time I noticed that this had actually gone way beyond what I thought it was ever going to go. People were lining up since like 5am to purchase a ticket.
“When I was performing on stage I noticed that these non-Korean people knew the lyrics top to bottom all in Korean and I thought ‘is this real?’ I realised that ‘wow, this is actually a global phenomenon’.”
While the idols’ dance moves can be sharp, quick and intense, the kids at TAPAC love learning their favourite artists’ choreography.
Aidan says his favourite group is BTS – the acclaimed seven-member group that’s been breaking records and topping charts, making them the first group since The Beatles to earn three number one albums in less than a year.
“For me, it’s about their talent like how they started out at a young age – like they started when they were teenagers – and how they got from just a little group to high standards."
Tui’s favourite idol is Blackpink – known most notably for their hit songs ‘Ddu-Du Ddu-Du’ and ‘Kill This Love’.
Blackpink perform at Sahara Tent during the 2019 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival on April 19, 2019 in California. Rich Fury/Getty Images for Coachella/AFP Photo: Rich Fury/Getty Images for Coachella/AFP
“I hadn’t really heard much of K-pop before I came here and then I started listening, I just like their style of music and voices.
“I’d been doing dancing for a long time and this dance class came up and I thought it will be cool to try it out and then I liked it.”
Chloe says the music and dance have an addicting vibe and she signed on the classes through her mother.
“It was actually through my mom she knows K-pop, she knows I’m always looking for more stuff to do and she told me about this class and I signed up.”
Chae says she’s always taken by surprise by the amount of love and support for K-pop.
“The kids love K-pop like beyond my own passion. I like K-pop because I’m like ‘oh yeah cool, it sounds like from my country and it’s in Korean’ … but these kids know the girl band or the boy band like their hairstyle, their nicknames, their birthdays, their hobbies, their fashion, their favourite colour.
“For example, we just did a town hall big K-pop party at Auckland town hall in February this year and there were about 700 to 800 people attending, watching, singing, dancing and partying with us.
“To me that was ‘what is this?’ I didn’t even know there was 700 to 800 K-pop fans in Auckland, so every moment, not just working for these idols, which is amazing alone but things like how TAPAC has its own K-pop classes now, every little thing is kind of like a ‘wow’ to me at the moment.”
And if you wanted to enrol in the class, you can find the details here.