A Little Slice of Korea no Longer so Little
K-Pop club is bringing passion and Korea to Stillwater
Photo by Lucas Polucha
K-Pop club spends much of their time watching Korean Pop music videos to learn new dance routines. Currently they are working on a dance performed in the spring.
December 14, 2019
Over the past year, K-Pop club has established an important local presence. In addition to providing fans of Korean pop music and a place to pursue their hobby, the club also offers a gateway into Korean culture.
“Basically K-Pop is Korean pop and Korean pop is a music genre that varies from singing, dancing and both,” explained senior Linda Herr, one of the co-presidents.
K-Pop club’s largest attraction is the days they practice dancing. Sometimes there are so many people the club can run out of room.
“So, we’re learning Korea choreography,” Herr said. “We learn Tuesdays and Wednesdays. And it’s basically where we gather and then you’ll learn dances, and then in February, there’s supposed to be a talent show and then we dance for the show.”
The size of their performances has greatly increased since K-Pop club’s founding.
During their first year, “They did a performance where there were only five girls dancing. And now there’s 20 and there’s boys in there too.” K-Pop club advisor, Shannon VerDuin said.
K-Pop club’s largest impact is through how it introduces students to new cultures, using music to remove barriers between ethnicities.
“I think it’s spreading, like, awareness of like different cultures, you know? Because, like, we go to a predominantly white high school, so like they not everybody knows as much about different cultures. So like, they can come here to learn aspects about different cultures,” sophomore Grace Storm said.
K-Pop has become more popular in the United States mainly thanks to the exposure of several Korean bands, most notably BTS, also called the Bangtan Boys.
“Because BTS has gotten worldwide exposure, they have been on the American billboard awards, they’ve been on MTV Music Awards. They’ve been on so many different things like they’re all over the world and so that’s really gotten K-Pop exposure,” VerDuin explained.
It is extracurricular activities like K-Pop club through which students can find friends with similar interests. Especially those coming into the high school, giving people like sophomore Joshua Lex-iong the opportunity to “Make friends and do things with them.”
“I would say K-Pop club is like a gathering for people who have an interest in Korean pop culture, or just Korean culture in general where people can come and gather and have fun dancing or playing games we see from Korean TV shows,” Lex-iong explained.
“It doesn’t matter like what races or what language you speak,” Storm added, “Music can bring everybody together.”
{https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2019/11/13/bts-continues-their-reign-as-the-most-successful-k-pop-act-on-the-pop-songs-chart/#6adaa6ba3700}
Junior Lucas Polucha joined newspaper partially at the behest of his sister, but mostly to experience journalism first hand. He is famous (or infamous,...
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