#team loko

It’s all over the common club scene. Going out on a Saturday night, there’s just no escaping it. A catchy beat. The sudden outburst of synchronized dancing from every drunken party animal in the club. Hands waiving in imagined lasso hoops and what sounds like imaginary words are shouted across the room. No, It’s not the Macarena. As the chorus is about to hit, you know what’s coming: “Op-op-op-op, oppan gangnam style!”

            In a not entirely different setting, yet far from any club, I find myself sweating to keep up with dance instructor Dany, as he moves effortlessly to the beats of a different song from the “k-pop” genre. Joining me are about 40 other students of different age, gender and nationality, brought together by one thing: a love for Korean pop music and dance.

            What’s commonly become known as the “Gangnam style phenomenon” has, in reality, had a steady growing fanbase across the world over the last five years. Professor of Music, Keith Howard at SOAS thinks Gangnam Style became the “tipping point”. He believes the reason why PSY managed to break through to the western market is based on timing and a focus on social networks, allowing fans to participate and become a part of the fun. “Flash mobs, etc, have become commonplace, and there is a mass K-pop following to the extent that tickets to [popular male group] Big Bang's recent concert in London sold out within a few hours, at close to £100 a ticket,” says Howard.

            Back at the dancing studio a half hour break is announced, followed by a mix of disappointed sighs and relieved thank you’s across the studio. The students go each to their own, and I join co-founder of the “London Kpop dance workshop”, Caroline Stacey for a quick word. Caroline has several years of experience with being a fan of K-pop as well as a dancer, and explains that their workshops have been running for well over a year. “We teach choreographies from the most popular k-pop music videos and groups. The thing about Korean pop is that it’s all about image, and many of their dances are quite easy, so that fans can join in without having much experience with dancing.”

On the topic of Gangnam style bringing focus to the Korean pop market, Caroline agrees with Professor Howard: “The song is so lively that it invites everyone to get up and considering it has such a catchy easy-to-learn dance as well, it makes it even more compelling. We all know that when everyone is knackered at the end of a party, everyone still gets up to join in with the Macarena or Saturday Night.”

While I’m talking to Caroline, the studio has turned into a dance battlefield behind us. Pop song after pop song in Korean, each with their own respective choreography is played with cheers and claps from those who are not dancing. And someone is always dancing, some obviously have more experience, but none having any less fun. It is clear that many of these are hard-core fans, as they sing along to song after song in Korean.

Howard has several theories towards the rapid growth in popularity around Korean pop; one of them is addressing the issue of lyrics. Can lyrics in a language we don’t understand at all, really catch on?

“You could argue that we've moved from lyrics to visuals, which over time links to MTV and music videos rather than audio recordings. At which point, lyrics in English become less important than the visuals – dance, body imaging, costumes, and so on. That's where K-pop excels compared to almost any other pop.”

I ask Caroline about the impact that Psy’s success has had on the rest of the K-pop environment, both in Korea as well as those who were already into this from before. Is there any difference?

She takes a while to answer, thinking. “Before, I had someone think that South Korea was this ancient civilisation and that they still played ancient instruments. Now everyone knows that K-pop is just pop music, but in the Korean language. I think people are more accepting of people that actually listen to it.” She continues to explain that even though people aren’t going out of their way to buy Psy’s album, he’s put K-pop on the map, and that is enough to open several doors for the rest of the K-pop scene.

As my interviewee is called away to deal with her administrative role, I join the applauding and cheering for the dancers on the floor, who have now moved on to more complicated choreographies. Still no one seems phaced, and whenever there is a single move they know, join in on the dancing. Even I am pushed to the middle of the floor when someone catches my awkward attempts at following the choreography of Girls Generation’s hit song “Oh!”

I feel like I have been welcomed into a community where it doesn’t matter who you are, as long as you know how to enjoy yourself and laugh. The London Kpop Dance workshops organized by Caroline and her team has given Londoners a chance I am sure many K-pop fans are wishing for, and with the chance that PSY has given the community, perhaps they will get it. And I for one, will without any doubt be returning.