Dance, dance, dance...
Nov. 12th, 2011 01:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranAs probably seventy per cent of the world's population already know, Korea is renowned for the efficient manufacture of steel, electronics and pop groups.
On my first trip to Seoul, I ended up with a dance tune stuck in my head for months after I heard it while walking around Myeong-dong. Unfortunately, I never learnt the name or the artist, or any of the words except for keureonde ("However"), so I've never managed to find it since.
This time around, I didn't even make it into the country before a song had dug its way into my head. I flew Korean Air, and they helpfully had a selection of K-pop hits and other Korean music so you could get tuned in before you arrived.
The song in question was Han Beon Man Anajwo ("Hug Me Once") by Girl's Day.
So, since I at least knew the title this time, I looked it up on youtube when I got back. And sure enough, the girls turned out to be both incredibly good looking and competent and from the DreamTea stable. It's not just the girls - I saw a video of a boy band while I was over there and they were moving with such precision I was half convinced it was computer generated.
But the thing I didn't expect to find, and maybe everyone else in the world knows this already, is that bands also put out video tutorials showing how to replicate their dancing. And then other people do it at home and put their videos up on youtube too.
As a certified non-dancer [1], I find this as fascinating as watching hawks fly or seals swim. It's something that I can appreciate and admire, even though I know I have no hope of ever being close to that level in competence.
Here's the full version in the dance studio.
And the finished product... (Warning: excess of saccharine - I actually prefer watching the tutorials.)
And here's the male version. No, I don't plan on emulating them any time soon...
[1] Although it has occurred to me lately, that maybe swimming is not actually that far from dancing, when you do it properly.
On my first trip to Seoul, I ended up with a dance tune stuck in my head for months after I heard it while walking around Myeong-dong. Unfortunately, I never learnt the name or the artist, or any of the words except for keureonde ("However"), so I've never managed to find it since.
This time around, I didn't even make it into the country before a song had dug its way into my head. I flew Korean Air, and they helpfully had a selection of K-pop hits and other Korean music so you could get tuned in before you arrived.
The song in question was Han Beon Man Anajwo ("Hug Me Once") by Girl's Day.
So, since I at least knew the title this time, I looked it up on youtube when I got back. And sure enough, the girls turned out to be both incredibly good looking and competent and from the DreamTea stable. It's not just the girls - I saw a video of a boy band while I was over there and they were moving with such precision I was half convinced it was computer generated.
But the thing I didn't expect to find, and maybe everyone else in the world knows this already, is that bands also put out video tutorials showing how to replicate their dancing. And then other people do it at home and put their videos up on youtube too.
As a certified non-dancer [1], I find this as fascinating as watching hawks fly or seals swim. It's something that I can appreciate and admire, even though I know I have no hope of ever being close to that level in competence.
Here's the full version in the dance studio.
And the finished product... (Warning: excess of saccharine - I actually prefer watching the tutorials.)
And here's the male version. No, I don't plan on emulating them any time soon...
[1] Although it has occurred to me lately, that maybe swimming is not actually that far from dancing, when you do it properly.
