K-Dance Camp: THE RETURN

(Image: AllweK)

Last year was one of the greatest years for K-Dance in the UK. We had notable names in the Korean choreography world like 82Aittytoo (Shawn, Tarzan and Youngbeen), Sea Ni, Trandee Rock, and Theo Song teaching workshops here in the UK with one of the biggest K-Dance events, K-Dance Camp, occurring in July. K-Dance Camp 2022 invited 11 of some of the most famous dancers and choreographers from Korea to the UK to teach two 5-day dance workshops. The list included Bada Lee, Mina Myoung, Cheshire Ha, Moana, Tina Boo, Redlic, Silvergun, Nain, Yeojin, Heesoo and Minny Park.

This year, K-Dance Camp returned with an all new line-up of top-tier choreographers: Junsun Yoo, Koosung Jung, Ibuki, Jaegu Han, Yeji Kim, Woonha, Alexx and Yechan. Spanning 5 days, students took a total of 12 classes culminating in a chance to audition for companies such as KQ Entertainment, Starship, Cube, etc. on the final day of the camp.

(Image: AllweK)

Students from all over Europe attended this 5-day workshop. We were joined by familiar faces that had attended the camp last year, as well as new students who were joining the camp for the first time. After the raving reviews from last year, this year’s camp was also held at the University of Roehampton, boasting lovely views, self-contained rooms, and fully catered breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Meet The Instructors:

We had a variety of some of Korea’s top dancers and instructors join us this year. Here is a brief introduction to all of them.

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(Image: Louise Youles)

Classes

Day 1 of the camp kicked off with the first class being taught by Junsun Yoo. He taught his choreography to Beyonce's Beychella ‘O.T. Genasis - Everybody Mad’ remix. When I tell you, this choreography went hard, it is not an exaggeration. The timing, the hitting of the beats, the energy, it was quite amazing to watch (part of me still regrets not learning it there). This class set a precedent for the level of energy this camp would need. The students really enjoyed his class. The next class that followed was Woonha’s class. Now, I had never really seen Woonha’s choreography so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw her energy and power.

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(Image: Louise Youles - Woonha teaching her class (Left) Junsun Yoo teaching his class (Right))

Day 2 had classes by Yeji Kim, Koosung Jung and Yechan. When I first met Yeji Kim, she seemed rather shy and reserved but seeing her teach and dance, it was like her whole persona shifted. She’s such a powerful dancer. If I had to pick the most difficult class out of all the classes I took, it would definitely be Koosung Jung’s class. The moves were intricate and detailed. Definitely one of the advanced classes of the camp. Yechan taught his choreo to NCT ‘Life Is Still Going On’ in his first class and did his choreo to an Afrobeats remix of ‘Rihanna - Te Amo’ in his second class. Although the first class kept it beginner-friendly, class two definitely upped the difficulty level.

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(Image: Louise Youles - Yechan teaching his 2nd class (Left) Yeji Kim teaching her class (Middle) Koosung Jung teaching his class (Right))

On Day 3, we had Jaegu Han, Ibuki, Alexx and Woonha. Kicking Day 3 off with a Jaegu Han class at 10am was enough to have everyone wide awake. His choreography is so explosive and high energy. I honestly loved every bit of it even though it was 10am on a Wednesday and I was working on minimal sleep. He is also such a lovely person and a great teacher.

After lunch, we had the queen, the legend - Ibuki - teaching her first class of the camp. It was such an honour to take her class. I’ve never really wacked before but her teaching made it so straightforward. By the end of the class, I was able to get through her choreo with little to no errors (I was shook). It usually takes me a while to really get a choreography, so being able to get through her choreo was an amazing experience. On top of that, she’s such a ball of energy that she can energise the whole class without even trying.

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(Image: Louise Youles - Jaegu Han teaching his class(Left) Ibuki teaching her class (Right))

After Ibuki’s class, was Alexx’s. Imagine my surprise when I heard ‘Omah Lay - Soso’ start to play at the beginning of class. I was originally not planning on taking this class (after having done Jaegu and then Ibuki’s class, I was knackered), but when I heard the song I immediately got up, found myself a space and started stretching because there was no way I was missing this class. What made the class even better was the fact that he seemed to really enjoy Afrobeats as a genre. Alexx’s choreo definitely reflected his love and respect for the genre. I was genuinely surprised to find out just how popular Afrobeats has become in Korea (apparently Afrobeats is really popping in Korea at the moment).

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(Image: Louise Youles - Alexx teaching his class (Left) Ibuki teaching her class (Right))

Finally on Day 4, Yechan, Junsun Yoo and Ibuki closed out the camp. Teaching his choreography to the Afrobeats remix of ‘Rihanna - Te Amo’, Yechan managed to hype up the camp early in the morning. After lunch, Junsun Yoo taught his choreography to C JAMM - ‘I Laugh Now’. This choreo had me sweating but it was so much fun. I’ve been a fan of Junsun Yoo’s choreography for a long time. Finally getting to take a class from him was one of the best things ever (sidenote: his choreography was as complex as I always thought it was). Lastly, Ibuki wrapped up the lessons for this year’s camp with another electrifying and high energy class.

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(Image: Louise Youles - Junsun Yoo teaching his 2nd class (Left) Ibuki teaching her 2nd class (Middle) Yechan teaching his 2nd class (Right))

With the classes being back to back, I really commend the students for doing their best to attend each and every class. Each teacher had their own teaching style and pace so it was a great learning opportunity for those interested in one day being involved in the dance space.

Overall, this year’s camp was another great experience. The opportunity to be part of this camp has been invaluable to me. Besides being exhilarating, it was a great learning experience as well (granted, I was really nervous about speaking in a different language in front of so many people. Again). It not only gave me the chance to test my Korean skills and identify areas for improvement, but I also got to learn from some of the best dancers in the game right now (I took a Junsun Yoo class AND an Ibuki class!!!). The event allowed me to meet and talk with my favourite Korean dancers (to all the instructors - thank you for being so lovely), as well as to meet and make some fantastic friends (big ups to all the volunteers). It has been an honour to work with K-Camp for the last two years, and I am so grateful to ARC Studios for giving me this opportunity again.