K-pop Dance: Fandoming Yourself on Social Media

This book is about K-pop dance and the evolution and presence of its dance fandom on social media.

Based on five years of ethnographic fieldwork, interviews, choreography, and participation-observation with 40 amateur and professional K-pop dancers in New York, California, and Seoul, the book traces the evolution of K-pop dance from the 1980s to the 2020s and explains its distinctive feature called ‘gestural point choreography’ – front-driven, two-dimensional, decorative and charming movements of the upper body and face – as an example of what the author theorizes as ‘social media dance.’ It also explores K-pop cover dance as a form of intercultural performance, suggesting that, by imitating and idolizing K-pop dance, fans are eventually ‘fandoming’ themselves and their bodies.

Presenting an ethnographic study of K-pop dance and its fandom, this book will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of Media Studies, Korean Studies, Performance Studies, and Dance.

Chuyun Oh is an Assistant Professor of Dance at San Diego State University. As a Fulbright scholar and former professional dancer, she studies racial and gender identities in performance. She is a co-author of Candlelight Movement, Democracy and Communication in Korea, Routledge 2021.

Contents

Part I: K-pop Dance

1. Social Media Dance: TikTok Dance Challenges
2. The Evolution of K-pop Dance from the 1980s to the 2020s
3. BTS: The Modern Dancers

Part 2: K-pop Dance Fandom

4. K-pop Cover Dance as Intercultural Performance
5. A White K-pop Fan-Dancer in Japan
6. A Refuge for Refugee Teens

Source: publisher’s website