Wanna dance like your favourite idols? A chat with R.P.M Dance Crew on perfecting K-pop choreography
Founded in 2014, R.P.M Dance Crew has amassed over 1 million YouTube followers for its dance covers and tutorials
Last April, I instantly became hooked the moment I heard “That That” by PSY and BTS’s Suga.
Maybe it was because Suga looked so good as a cowboy pretending to ride a horse. Or perhaps it was the enthusiasm PSY displayed throughout the music video. Nevertheless, I thought the choreography for the song looked so silly and fun that I became determined to learn it. That led me to enroll in my very first K-pop dance class. Now I’m happy to say I haven’t stopped dancing since, though there is still MUCH to be desired about my moves.
The truth is, I have always wanted to try K-pop dancing but always felt too self-conscious to actually do it. Perfecting choreography is no easy feat, and taking dance classes has since made me appreciate just how hard K-pop idols work to make it look easy and flawless.
I know that I’m far from the only person who has grown interested in learning K-pop choreography after being cooped up for two years during the pandemic. All over my TikTok feeds, people are trying out viral dances more than ever before. I’ll also never forget just how crowded my class for Blackpink’s “Pink Venom” was after the song came out.
I decided to reach out to some of the instructors at my dance school DanceLifeX to ask them what they think about the growing popularity of K-pop dance. Many of them are also part of a popular Toronto troupe known as R.P.M Dance Crew.
Formed in 2014, R.P.M (Rhythm Power Moxie) is a K-pop cover group who have amassed over 1 million subscribers on YouTube and more than 48,000 followers on Instagram thanks to their easy to follow dance tutorials and performances.
Angela Han has been dancing with R.P.M since 2017 and is a K-pop dance instructor at DanceLifeX. I recently chatted with her about how to get started in K-pop dancing, the key to perfecting intricate choreography and why we shouldn’t be so hard on ourselves if we can’t land a dance move right away.
(photo submitted by R.P.M Dance Crew)
Tell me about R.P.M Dance Crew and how it started.
R.P.M started from a four member group. Michaela [Tai], who is one of founding members, is still with us today. R.P.M wanted to do dance competitions. And then from there, they slowly built up this following just posting fun videos, posting tutorials and performing around Toronto. Then in 2017, they held their first public audition. That is the year I joined when I came here for school from Vancouver.
How long have you been dancing for?
So my dance journey has been on and off. I started dancing in China doing Chinese traditional dance when I was like four. And then when I came to Canada, I totally stopped dancing.
Then sometime between 2015 and 2017, I got into K-pop and saw all these cool dances. I was like, "Hey, I want to try doing that.” So I picked it back up, started self-teaching myself choreo and never stopped since.
How did you take your interest in K-pop dance lead you to start teaching classes?
R.P.M’s content is heavy on making tutorials online. We actually have a very good team culture of trying to push our members to try teaching in different aspects. So I made my first ever tutorial, which was “Hann” by (G)I-DLE, in 2018. I was nervous making it, but we did the counts, we did the moves. And then from there, that was the first step that pushed me to teach. I realized, “Oh, this is something I am capable of doing!”
I did a few more tutorials from there and slowly transitioned into actually teaching live classes, which I enjoy so much. Now, I just want to be a teacher that I needed when I first started learning these K-pop dances. As a self-taught dancer, the hardest part is you don't actually catch all the details or all the textures, all the small things when you first learning dances by yourself. So if I look back at old choreos I've danced before I'm like, “I did not look like a dancer.” So [I want to be] someone that can make that stuff a little bit easier for other people.
R.P.M’s YouTube account has over 1 million subscribers and your tutorials have been watched millions of times as well. That’s pretty crazy. What’s it like to have those videos seen all over the world?
Definitely crazy, and very, very surreal. Sometimes, I don't think we really feel the power of social media until someone you meet in your community knows who you are, or says you were able to help them in their dance journey. I truly feel like I can speak for all our members that we feel very honoured and privileged to receive so much love online and to be able to share our passion our knowledge with so many viewers around the world.
It’s super insane because we’ve competed in the K-pop Cover Dance Festival. So recently, some members went to Korea and they met a lot of different teams from around the world, where some of the other members from teams came up to [co-founder] Michaela, and was like, “When I first started my dance journey, I learned a BTS tutorial from you.” And I think that's when it really hits a lot of us hard like, “Oh my God, we’re actually helping people!” So it's very, very surreal. And we feel very honoured to even have this platform.
What do you think of the interest people have in K-pop dancing, especially after COVID?
It's fun. It’s just a great way to share culture and a great way to bond. But I will say though, I'm almost a little bit jealous of people who are going into high school now because liking K-pop is the cool thing.
Like when I was in high school, it was like, “Oh my God, you like K-pop? What is that?” So I mean, it's definitely a nice phenomenon to see.
(photo submitted by R.P.M Dance Crew)
You guys tackle some pretty hard choreography from BTS to LE SSERAFIM. What would you say was the hardest one for you guys to perfect?
The hardest ones I would say are the dances that need a lot of members. We really focus on trying to be in sync and focus not only on angles, but also the texture of the dance and whether we should hit a move harder or a bit softer.
Recently, one of the hardest dance covers is “ANTIFRAGILE” by LE SSERAFIM. That dance is so powerful. When you do like a five people cover, that needs powerful dance, powerful facials and good stamina from beginning to finish.
A lot of people took up dance in the pandemic. What is your advice for people who find it hard to perfect K-pop choreography, especially those who might feel awkward or not very coordinated? (AKA me…)
Well, first, don't be super tough on yourself. K-pop choreo is almost not for people who are beginners. That’s something to keep in mind. Now that K-pop is moving into a very heavy dance generation, the choreo for K-pop groups are already at a very high level compared to second generation groups. So don't be very hard on yourself. On top of that, when you're learning these choreographies, if you can execute it as a beginner at like 20 percent, that's already a win.
Taking other dance styles and dance classes to get a different feel about how your body should move [will help]. The fun thing about K-pop choreo is it’s not a genre of itself. It's a whole bunch of different genres mixed into all these cool songs. So once you take other classes as foundation, you're going to see a move you took from a hip hop class or a jazz funk class.
And when you're learning these dances, really break it down. Maybe do arms one day, do legs one day. In my classes, I will always say, “If it is hard for you to do both arms and legs at the same time, break it apart.”
To end off, who are your favourite K-pop idol dancers that inspire you as a dancer?
My three biases! Jungkook (BTS), Lisa (Blackpink) and Yunjin (LE SSERAFIM). I like them because of their charisma and stage presence. They look like they very much enjoy themselves on stage. That is something I really want to portray with my own performances.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
R.P.M Dance Crew can be found on Instagram and YouTube! You can follow Angela Han on Instagram.
In other news…
The ladies of Blackpink went all out over the weekend, becoming the first K-pop group to headline Coachella. The ladies sang their biggest hits including “Pink Venom”, “How You Like That” and “Lovesick Girls”. They also stunned the crowd with their solo stages. You can definitely see the growth in confidence over the span of four years, when the girls last performed at Coachella in 2019.
While Blackpink seemed to have experienced a few hiccups early on in their world tour, it really feels like the girls are finding their rhythm again and enjoying performing in front of thousands of fans. There is something very emotional about seeing four Asian women living out all our pop star fantasies on the main stage of Coachella. Ten to 15 years ago, I wouldn’t have believed it!
The set was also full of Korean elements, from the set to the costumes to the group greetings. This Twitter thread was interesting. Linking here because I can no longer embed tweets on Substack.
In other news, Blackpink also announced it will taking part in a number of encore stadium performances across North America this August. That’ll include:
New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on August 12
Las Vegas’s Allegiant Stadium on August 18
San Francisco’s Oracle Park on August 22
Los Angeles’s Dodger Stadium on August 26.
Jackson Wang and Ciara tease remix of XG’s “Left Right” at Coachella
In his second Coachella performance of his career, Jackson Wang surprised the audience by bringing out R&B icon Ciara as a guest performer. The performance included their new collaboration called “Slow.”
However, the biggest surprise of the night was the pair’s remix of XG’s hit single “LEFT RIGHT”, which featured brand new original lyrics.
The combo of Wang and Ciara was not what I expected, but I am certainly excited to see the XG girls getting some well-deserved attention. One day, I hope the ladies get a chance to perform at Coachella themselves!
j-hope officially enlists in the military
j-hope has officially enlisted in the military on Tuesday, after posting a farewell message to his fans.
In a picture posted on Instagram, he wrote, “I’ll have a good trip!”
He was also joined by the members of BTS, who sent him off. Jin, the eldest member of BTS who enlisted las December, was also there to wish him luck.
See me elsewhere!
From hip-hop to reggae, disco to house, screamo to pop-punk, K-pop performers are continuing to prove their versatility and excel in a variety of different styles. For Joysauce, I recently looked at eight different K-pop songs and how artists are playing with different genres to shape their sound. I wrote another piece for Joysauce about how artists are playing with different genres to shape their sound. READ IT HERE.
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What a fun interview!! I have always had so much admiration for dancers. Anyone who has that kind of control of their body is so cool! I also was intrigued by the "That That" choreo... but learning it was a whole different story. It was a humbling experience to say the least! (LOL) The k-pop dance community feels so inviting and inclusive. I love seeing all the random dance plays at concerts, cupsleeves and other events where everyone is cheering for each other. I already know I will be checking out R.P.M's Youtube videos during my work breaks today 😁