Bogotá, Colombia
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Music cuts and restarts inside a dance studio within the nation’s capital, as dancers depend out loud, refining exact transitions late into the night time.
V14 is certainly one of many dance studios within the metropolis identified for coaching city kinds like Reggaeton. But tonight, the choreography filling the room comes from midway internationally.
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, regardless that it originates hundreds of miles away.
“We as Latin people love to party, we love to enjoy music,” stated Johanna Valentina Espinosa, Empire’s chief, who performs below 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 12 months, 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 worldwide 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 taking part 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 alternate and diplomacy
It is a part of a wider effort by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea to advertise Korean tradition by music, movie, tv, trend and meals as a part of Hallyu, or the “Korean Wave.”
“Hallyu is more than a cultural asset,” stated 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 typically 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.
On the rooftop of the Plaza Claro shopping center, members of the all-male group Double Blade rehearse formations in opposition to the town skyline, drawing curious onlookers. Similar scenes play out throughout the town, the place public area has turn out to be a necessary 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,” stated Leonardo Gómez, additionally identified 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 internationally, K-pop grew to become greater than a pastime through the pandemic years. With studios closed and occasions canceled, social media grew to become 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,” stated 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 attraction goes past catchy songs or tough choreography.
“It’s not just the music or the dance, it’s the whole K-pop system that helped it grow in Colombia,” stated 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.”
Members of Empire say they’re conscious of stereotypes that generally encompass K-pop, particularly the concept it shouldn’t be taken critically, however they push again in opposition to that notion.
“There’s a stigma that K-pop isn’t taken seriously,” stated 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 achieve visibility inside the K-pop business itself. One instance they level to is Santos Bravos, a Latin boy group developed below BTS’s label HYBE as a part of a broader push to increase K-pop’s world attain.
“Seeing groups like Santos Bravos makes a difference,” one dancer stated. “It shows that there’s space for Latin artists in this world too.”
Alongside them is world lady group KATSEYE, whose Grammy nomination this 12 months drew new consideration to how K-pop–educated acts are breaking into the worldwide mainstream.
Both teams may even carry out on the fifteenth version of Festival Estéreo Picnic in Bogotá in March of this 12 months. 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 significance inside K-pop’s world growth is turning into more and more clear. Major promotion corporations comparable 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 worldwide touring map.
That shift is now being mirrored on main levels.
“The fact that a group as big and well-known as BTS is coming shows how music can break barriers,” Espinosa stated. “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 power into K-pop, from dancing to group constructing, the announcement indicators that the tradition they constructed regionally is now being acknowledged globally.