By Isa Cardona, NCS
Bogotá, Colombia (NCS) — Music cuts and restarts inside a dance studio in the nation’s capital, as dancers rely out loud, refining exact transitions late into the night time.
V14 is one among many dance studios in town recognized for coaching city kinds like Reggaeton. But tonight, the choreography filling the room comes from midway the world over.
Empire, a seven-member co-ed dance group, is rehearsing K-pop routines, a part of a rising motion of Colombian dancers who’re coaching, competing and constructing communities round Korean pop music.
Across Latin America, that connection has expanded quickly, although it originates hundreds of miles away.
“We as Latin people love to party, we love to enjoy music,” mentioned Johanna Valentina Espinosa, Empire’s chief, who performs beneath the identify Vay. “K-pop brings that feeling of friendship and enjoying things together.”
From fandom to participation
K-pop has been current in Colombia and throughout Latin America for over a decade, with concert events by acts like ATEEZ and NCT 127 drawing hundreds of followers in Bogotá. This yr, the nation is ready to welcome boy group phenomenon BTS for the primary time, a milestone second for native followers and a signal of how far the area has moved from the margins of global K-pop excursions.
On the bottom, social media has helped the style’s fandom evolve into an organized, seen cultural scene. Colombian K-pop dancers are not solely consuming the style, they’re actively collaborating in it.
Events just like the Ok-Pop World Festival, supported by Korean embassies worldwide, have helped present construction and visibility for native performers.
In Colombia, the annual competitors attracts dancers from throughout the nation and serves as a assembly level for the broader K-pop group. While solely a small variety of groups advance internationally to the ultimate in South Korea, the occasion reinforces connections between followers, performers and cultural establishments.
Cultural trade and diplomacy
It is a part of a wider effort by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea to advertise Korean tradition by way of music, movie, tv, trend and meals as a part of Hallyu, or the “Korean Wave.”
“Hallyu is more than a cultural asset,” mentioned Kyungho Park, Second Secretary on the South Korean embassy in Colombia. “It is a strategic asset that enhances Korea’s national image and promotes people-to-people exchange.”
That affect usually extends past leisure. Sofía Alfonso Gaitán from the embassy’s Culture, Education and International Cooperation part famous that many contributors in K-pop competitions later apply for scholarships to review overseas, turning dance covers into long-term aspirations.
A regional community
On the rooftop of the Plaza Claro shopping center, members of the all-male group Double Blade rehearse formations in opposition to town skyline, drawing curious onlookers. Similar scenes play out throughout town, the place public area has turn out to be an important a part of the K-pop dance tradition.
“We’re a very new group, less than six months together, and we’re already competing with groups that have many years of experience,” mentioned Leonardo Gómez, additionally recognized by his stage identify Drako, the chief of Double Blade. “I feel very proud of my group because they are very hardworking people.”
For many dancers the world over, K-pop turned greater than a interest through the pandemic years. With studios closed and occasions canceled, social media turned their stage and group.
“I think K-pop is getting really popular in Colombia because after the pandemic, a lot of things changed and the K-pop wave grew a lot,” mentioned Juan Pablo García or Jwamp, a member of Double Blade. “The dance community became a very important foundation for K-pop to grow here.”
Others say the style’s enchantment goes past catchy songs or troublesome choreography.
“It’s not just the music or the dance, it’s the whole K-pop system that helped it grow in Colombia,” mentioned Jorge David Galviz or Danny, one other member of Double Blade. “The people who built the community and created bonds were the foundation of this culture here.”
Korean, with a Latin twist
Members of Empire say they’re conscious of stereotypes that generally encompass K-pop, particularly the concept that it shouldn’t be taken significantly, however they push again in opposition to that notion.
“There’s a stigma that K-pop isn’t taken seriously,” mentioned Juliana León Monroy, member of Empire. “But we treat it like any other form of art.”
Some dancers say they’ve additionally been inspired by seeing Latin artists acquire visibility inside the K-pop business itself. One instance they level to is Santos Bravos, a Latin boy group developed beneath BTS’s label HYBE as a part of a broader push to broaden K-pop’s global attain.
“Seeing groups like Santos Bravos makes a difference,” one dancer mentioned. “It shows that there’s space for Latin artists in this world too.”
Alongside them is global woman group KATSEYE, whose Grammy nomination this yr drew new consideration to how K-pop–educated acts are breaking into the global mainstream.
Both teams may even carry out on the fifteenth version of Festival Estéreo Picnic in Bogotá in March of this yr. The competition, one of many largest music occasions in Latin America, headlined by Tyler The Creator and Sabrina Carpenter, is understood for bringing collectively worldwide and Latin artists throughout genres.
Latin America’s rising visibility
Latin America’s significance inside K-pop’s global enlargement is changing into more and more clear. Major promotion corporations akin to Studio PAV, which operates places of work in Bogotá and Mexico City alongside hubs in Seoul and the United States, level to a area that’s now firmly on the global touring map.
That shift is now being mirrored on main phases.
“The fact that a group as big and well-known as BTS is coming shows how music can break barriers,” Espinosa mentioned. “It opens the door for more people to discover the culture or finally see their favorite artists.”
The group’s return to touring has additionally had regional political resonance. In Mexico, BTS live performance tickets offered out in lower than an hour, prompting Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to publicly advocate for extra dates. Her remarks circulated broadly, underscoring the cultural attain and financial significance of K-pop throughout Latin America.
For younger individuals throughout Bogotá and Latin America who’ve poured their vitality into K-pop, from dancing to group constructing, the announcement alerts that the tradition they constructed regionally is now being acknowledged globally.
The-NCS-Wire
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