It’s a K-move: These Indian dancers are tapping into people’s K-pop interests with their workshops

ldquoI was hooked to Kpop for their dances and the versatility that came with it Unfortunately there werenrsquot any Kpop classes in Mumbai I felt there was a need for it given the growing interestsrdquo says Sasha Baptista a 23yearold dancer from Mumbai who has been a Kpop enthusiast since 2017Baptista has been a Kpop instructor for ten months now an activity she took up to cater to her own interests as well as of the young Kpop fans in the city who are eager to groove to Kpop songs and indulge in the immersive and energetic experience to the fullestSimilarly Moon Moon Kuki a Bangalorebased dancer organised her first Kpop dance workshop this September which was attended by at least 30 people who got a chance to familiarise themselves with the fundamentals of Kpop dances and sync their moves to the tunes of South Korean rapper BIrsquos hit BTBT and other trending coversBoth Baptista and Moon devout fans of Korean entertainment and culture believe there is a growing demand for Kpop classes or workshops among the teenagers and younger adults who closely follow the Korean singers pop artists and dramasGrowing interests among the youngldquoThe main motive behind conducting Kpop workshops is that my Instagram community wanted to learn from me oneonone in classrdquo says Moon who is a selftaught dancer and discovered Kpop in 2019 when she watched the Bangtan Boys BTS perform on the television Like many other young Indian Kpoppers Moon couldnrsquot resist practicing the stunning moves through YouTube tutorials and exploring more Korean bands and artists who now rule the popculture creative expression across the worldItrsquos not an understatement to say that Kpop is the heart and soul of the Hallyu wave in India and young Kpoppers are its indefatigable driving force In the last three decades especially during and postpandemic there has been a rising appreciation of Korean pop culture and entertainment mainly among Indians in the age group of 1630 years The admiration which is not merely restricted to entertainment has inspired many young Indians to take serious interest in their performing talents and capabilitiesRecently Sriya Lenka an 18yearold classical dancer and singer from Odisha became the first Indian to join the Kpop band Blackswan after clearing global auditions in 2021 Previously in 2016 Priyanka Mazumdar from Assamrsquos Guwahati emerged as the countryrsquos first Kpop star when she won the third place for vocals at the World Kpop Contest A similar cohort of young dancers and singers in India regularly participate in allIndia and regional Kpop contests organised by the Korean Cultural Centre of India KCCI in Delhi According to Hwang IlYong director of KCCI since 2012 with every passing year there has been a gradual rise in the number of people participating in the Kpop contest in DelhiFor Baptista Kpop was about renewing her long lost passion to dance and honing her skills further ldquoAfter I got into a dance group for the Kpop contest in 2018 it brought back my interest in dancing Watching Kpop artists work so hard on singing and dancing is a motivation for me and the reason I have improved my dance skillrdquo she says Her YouTube channel for Kpop dance covers now attracts thousands of viewers such as her video on lsquoMore and Morersquo by Twice garnered over 50k views This is also one of those factors which gave impetus to her aim of becoming a Kpop dance instructorGiven the highspirited and highly competitive nature of these contests young prodigies have taken encouragement from the online community of Kpop artists in India to brush up on their dancing and singing skills Baptista and Moon cater to these young people who are willing to learn but fall short of professional guidance from expertsFlexible choreography sessionsAccording to Moon the demand for these sessions varies as per the location In metro cities there is a higher possibility that the number of attendees can extend up to 60 which mainly consists of people from the age group of 16 to 27 years In Mumbai Baptista has seen registrations from people between 14 and 20 years of age too The fee ranges between Rs 350 and Rs 450 per sessionKpop is originally an umbrella term for modern entertainment coming out of Seoul initiated by the lsquoSeo Taiji and Boysrsquo in 1992 and includes an integration of Korean music with other genres such as RampB hip hop rock jazz and rap among others This is also why the choreographers usually blend in multiple styles predominantly hip hop and jazz during their classAs someone who has been conducting workshops for about 10 months now and one of the first digital content creators to do so Baptista likes to expand the scope of her workshop to include latest Kpop original covers as well as blend in her own choreography to diversify the experience whereas Moon likes to focus on a lot of stretching and warm up exercises during her sessionldquoI teach the original choreography that normally fans learn through video but in class they get proper instruction on how to execute it which includes a lot of dance styles in one Some of the songs Ive thought about recently are BTBT Run BTSrdquo says BaptistaGiven that most of these workshops are followed by Kpop enthusiasts the instructors have a great time bonding with the passionate and talented fellow community members ldquoThe energy and vibe that come from those attending the workshops is amazing I could feel the passion to learn something new as soon as I stepped in It was really a smooth price since most of them followed Kpop choreographies closely so they picked up very easilyrdquo observes MoonAlso read How young Indians are flexing their skills through Kpop dance and music covers