Friday, Oct. 6, at the Student Recreation and Wellness Center, K-pop-loving students came together to share their appreciation for the music genre via a dance class.
Washburn K-pop Dance Club members met at 7 p.m. in the SRWC downstairs exercise room to learn a portion of the dance to K-pop girl group NewJeans’ song, “Super Shy.” After learning the bubbly, upbeat choreography, attendees were taught two other short dances for fun until 8 p.m.
Minami Isobe and Justine Gutierrez, founders and choreographers of Washburn K-pop Dance Club, got the idea of creating the club when they were dancing with each other one day. Gutierrez, junior nursing major and vice president of Washburn K-Pop Dance Club, fondly remembered the day when they first got the idea.
“There was just one time that we were dancing together and we love K-pop dance. And we just said, ‘Why don’t we make a club and connect to people who are also interested in K-pop?’” said Gutierrez. “Like, make some friends and meet new people who have the same interest as us. And we just felt like that would be really fun if we could have a lot of people who can dance with us, like today.”
Isobe, senior psychology major and president of Washburn K-pop Dance Club, used her love for Korean culture as even more of a reason to create this club.
“I’m a huge fan of K-pop and Korean dramas, like, basically Korea,” said Isobe. “So I really wanted to make a club for something Korean. And there are some students who love K-pop so we decided to make a K-pop dance class. Just for fun.”
Washburn K-pop Dance Club had its first meeting Sept. 14, where the members learned the dance to “Fearless” by LE SSERAFIM, another K-pop girl group. This is a darker, smoother song with a more complicated dance.
Gutierrez explained that the first meeting had a lower attendance. Gutierrez and the other leaders are still trying to find which weekday and time works best for a meeting for the majority of people interested in attending.
“That first meeting we only had three people besides me and Minami, so we were worried at first, like, what if nobody’s going to come? But today was, I think, a big success for the second meeting, having a couple of people and I felt like they enjoyed it and they want to come again and dance with us,” Gutierrez said.
After learning “Super Shy,” the choreographers retaught the chorus of “Fearless,” then, with time to spare, taught a small portion of the fast-paced “Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard’s wife” by LE SSERAFIM.
K-pop is short for Korean popular music and originated in South Korea. Members of these groups are called idols and are adored by K-pop fans across the world. Isobe has great admiration for K-pop idols and their art form.
“I just love their music and dance. I think they’re so cool, cute and amazing,” Isobe said.
Although Isobe and Gutierrez haven’t set a date for the next K-pop Dance meeting yet, they’d like to welcome any and everyone to join them next.
“I think it’s pretty open for everyone. You don’t need to sign up for anything. You can just come and dance,” Gutierrez said.
To learn more about Washburn K-pop Dance Club and stay informed on upcoming meetings, follow their Instagram account @wu_kpopdance.
Edited by Jayme Thompson and Aja Carter
