I’ve been listening to Baby Metal recently and it got me wondering if there were any J-Pop/K-Pop dance classes that I can take around Los Angeles. Once I found one, I had to take it. Here’s my review of a K-Pop dance workout at Boogiezone Utopia in Torrance!
What did I expect from a K-Pop dance class?
I don’t really know much about K-Pop and I’ve only really listened to a group or two so I didn’t know what to expect. I also know that the girls and guys in K-Pop groups train hard when it comes to their choreography. In my head I see very feminine movements with a little bit of hip-hop in between. I am a little worried that I won’t be able to use song lyrics to remember movements since that helps me with choreography. What if I don’t get into the song since I don’t really listen to K-Pop? But I am extremely excited to learn a new dance style and share my gains from it.Our dance instructor: Ally Vega
Ally created J-Pop & K-pop classes at Boogiezone Utopia. She also has a dance company called J-Pop Dance Party that teaches hip-hop dance at different anime conventions and events. How cool is that? In her class, Ally made it a breeze to step into a new dance style. She is very vocal with cues and often creates a different sound effect for a certain move that helps me remember. She is very accommodating especially to new students which made it easier to feel at home in her class. Her passion for dance spills over her class because you see how much fun she has and how proud she looks when she sees her choreography.How was the choreography?
One word: Waacking (more on that later). Wow. K-Pop class is intense and fun! There is definitely a femme influence (might depend per instructor) and hip-hop combinations. I am very impressed at the speed of this dance style. It is a great mixture of very stiff & static with flowy & feminine combos. The versatility is very unique and it works so well together with the music. The most challenging part of K-Pop dance style is the waacking: movement of arms over and behind your shoulder to the beat of the music with posing and footwork. Whew! This form of dance was created in the 70’s at the LGBT clubs in Los Angeles. This one hurt my brain a little. Just picture if you will– vogueing on steroids! This took some time and a lot of patience and practice to get used to, but once you get the hang of it, you feel hugely accomplished! I love that my body and brain got a workout!I love that my body and brain got a workout!