There are so many things that add to the colors of K-Pop, but for me personally the dances are a focal point. There's no better experience than when a group pairs an amazing bop with an equally amazing dance choreo that makes you want to move your body (and start contemplating on how to sell all your possessions and say goodbye to your family to start a new life in South Korea as a semi-professional dancer). No wonder many fans (myself included) want to know more about the choreographers.
When speaking of professional Korean choreographers, two prestigious dance studios come to my mind:
1Million, a dance studio/school in Seoul, South Korea is located in a very small corner of the Gangnam district. While unnoticed by many, as the building doesn't stand out at all from the rest off the dazzling district, the place is home to some super talented and legendary choreographers who get to pass down their skills to their students when they are not busy coming up with choreos for K-Pop artists such as Jay Park, Girl’s Generation, 2NE1, GOT7, HyunA + more. If an artist works with a dancer from 1 Million, you can count on some magic happening.
PREPIX, another famous dance studio/school is located on 3F, 8-13 Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. PREPIX offers an array of dance genres from hip hop, fusion contemporary, house etc. taught by 32+ dance instructors. PREPIX is well known for working extensively with Jay Park along with NCT‘s Ten, Girls’ Generation HyoYeon and Hoya.
Here are a few female choreographers repping the dance schools mentioned above riding the K-Pop wave and making a splash in 2019. Some have been around for years, while some are newer to the scene.
JANE KIM | choreographer + dancer at VIVA DANCE & 1MILLION Dance Studio
Instagram: @janekim_viva YouTube: vivaglamgus
Jane Kim is a dancer, choreographer and trainer hailing from South Korea. She teaches choreos at 1Million Dance Studio as well as Viva Dance Studio.
Jane is one of my favorite choreographers in 1Million because she definitely stands out from the crowd. She focuses on making a dance suitable for more than one dancer so the dancers can easily follow the pace and dance in unison. One of my fave choreos from Jane, posted below, kinda reflects that fact. I also adore her positive attitude.
SIMEEZ | Chungha's & Heize's personal choreographer + dancer at PREPIX Dance Studio
Instagram: @_simeez
Another South Korean dancer you should definitely keep an eye on is a member of the PREPIX crew and an instructor at PREPIX Dance Studio, Simeez. Simeez has worked closely with K-Pop artists such as Heize, Chungha and Jennie from BLACKPINK. Simeez choreographed and directed Chungha's MV for (벌써 12 시) Gotta go, 2018 Hongkong MAMA choreo for Heize and Chungha, Jennie's hit Solo and Boa's Amor. Her choreohraphy for Ciara's banger Level Up had me fangirling throughout the whole MV (which I played at least 50 times at this point). It's pure sex appeal and fire!!! 👅✨🔥
SORI NA | choreographer at 1MILLION Dance Studio
Instagram: @sorinaxx
YouTube: Sori Na
Another outstanding choreographer who's held dance workshops in the US and also here in Vancouver with Soju Events along with a fellow 1MILLION choreographer Bong Young is the ever flawless Sori Na.
Sori is known for her popping isolations and technicality that she puts into her dances. When she's not teaching at 1MILLION or shooting videos for her YouTube channel that boasts 142K subscribers, she dances with trio known as Indonesia Workshop along with her friends Mina Myoung and Junsun Yoo. The trio is known to organize concerts which are extremely famous in South Korea. As you can probably already tell, Sori focuses on hip-hop dancing and is a huge fan of Meek Mill and Kendrick Lamar. She has been one of the few lucky ones who had the opportunity to dance at Tyga's as a background dancer.
SUNHEE CHOI | Red Velvet's, Dream Catcher's & Trouble Maker's personal choreographer
Instagram: sunny7907
SunHee Choi is a famous South Korean choreographer that's been slaying for many years now and that owns a dance school called SWITCH. She is one of three main choreographers behind Red Velvet's 레드벨벳 RBB (Really Bad Boy) MV along with Janelle Ginestra, a world-renowned choreographer who worked with pop stars such Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce and Nicki Minaj, and Kaycee Rice, a rising dancer from the US.
Now that you're all caught up with some of the best Korean female dancers in the game (stay tuned for part two where I will be covering their male counterparts), here's the important part! You can meet all of them in person and learn some of their best moves and choreos.
When K-Dance agency, one of the biggest agencies in South Korea, representing country's top choreographers approached us with the opportunity to collab, we did not think twice as we see incredible value in their in their 4 day summer camp program. This complete dance camp will offer you a chance to spend four full days with the best choreographers hailing from South Korea, meeting the K-Pop group NOIR and also dance with Nickelodeon superstar Lilimar Hernandez.
The package includes the four days packed with dance practice, all inclusive accommodation for 3 nights (food + drinks included) + more (check below):
The Program:
9 K-Pop dance classes + 1 fan meeting with the K-Pop group NOIR + auditions (optional) with the entertainment companies such as Source Music, MLD Entertainment, Polaris Entertainment and more.
Fan Meeting:
NOIR: a rookie K-Pop group produced by LUK Factory, composed of nine members. They debuted in 2018 with the banger Gangsta.