One important part of Korean culture is to share the excitement for dance and music with friends, says club president
Performing K-Pop in Culture Night was a perfect way to introduce their culture to the BYU–Hawaii, said members of Korea Club. Korea Club chose five K-Pop songs to perform at Culture Night that were popular from different eras to show the genre’s musical evolution from 2007 to 2022.
Jihyun Park, the choreographer of Korea Club’s performance and a freshman in business management from Korea, said she wanted people who know the early generations of K-Pop to appreciate the performance as well as the current K-Pop music lovers. She said she noticed a common response from people when they listen to K-Pop songs. “If you hear the song and see the moves, you will want to dance and match them all together with the beat.”
Korea Club President Helaman Kim explained, “In Korea, there is a spirit of ‘heung.’ It is something that brings excitement and also a feeling that comes from a joyful person.” Kim, a junior majoring in biochemistry from
Korea, explained Korean people are very exciting people because they have a lot of heung with them. “Back in the old days... if we have friends and music, even if we just have a drum with us, we can have a great time singing and dancing along with the songs,” said Kim.
He said everything Korea Club performed in Culture Night represented the spirit of heung their ancestors being exemplified.
The first number Korea Club performed was called “Into the New World” from Girls’ Generation, a girl group popular in 2007, said Park. This song was well-known in its era, she shared, and it talks about someone who left
behind the past and is excited to embrace the new chapter in life. She said, “I think it was a very good introduction to show what K-Pop is.”
Park said she purposefully let the men be in the center of the stage for the song “Fantastic Baby” to give the audience a sense of what it was like in 2012 when the boy group BigBang went viral. This song was followed by
“Dance the Night Away” by Twice, “Kill This Love” by Black Pink and “Permission to Dance” by BTS.
“All the songs we picked connect to heung, [and] you can see from the song’s fast beat where everyone can jump and enjoy.
“Through these songs we also wanted people to know that they are included at BYUH,” said Park.
“Most of the dancers are not from Korea,” Park continued. “They joined because they love K-Pop culture, and I bet they know better than me. I only follow BTS, but [many of them] follow more.”
Ebbygael Mocodompis, a junior majoring in hotel and tourism management from Indonesia, said she decided to join the Korean performance for Culture Night during her last trimester of pregnancy. She said when she heard that Korea Club was going to perform “Kill This Love” by Blackpink, she immediately consulted with her doctor and joined the club.
Mocodompis said she couldn’t resist dancing with them because she has been a fan of K-Pop since 2010. She said, “When I was in high school, I always dreamed of performing this dance. Even though it seems like I’m taking a risk, this opportunity is such a dream come true for me.” She also shared her gratitude for joining the performance because the music, dance and people in Korea Club have helped her to cope with the recent loss of her father.