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But not every element of the global phenomenon
is made in Korea.
Some of the genre's dance moves are being created in
neighbouring Japan, by 20-year-old dancer and choreographer
Reina Kaneko.
The talent behind recent K-pop viral dance videos, Kaneko has
choreographed for top groups GOT the Beat and NCT 127, the
winner of the grand prize at the Seoul Music Awards in January.
Kaneko, known online as ReiNa, began dance lessons at five years
old, created her first original choreography for a competition a
few years later and by middle school was teaching hip hop dance
workshops.
Her 176,000 followers on Instagram, where she posts dance
videos, now include global superstars like Rihanna.
Kaneko said she was shocked when two years ago she opened her
email to find job offers from entertainment agencies to
choreograph for the K-pop groups.
"They (Korean boy bands) were so big and it (choreographing for
them) was well over the pressure I could take," Kaneko told
Reuters.
"But I tried to put everything I've got (into the choreography).
Also if I was going to choreograph for an artist, I wanted to
produce a choreography where they would outshine others."
SM Entertainment confirmed they had hired Kaneko to choreograph
for NCT 127's "Favorite(Vampire), NCT U's "Universe(Let's play
ball) and "Make a wish", and GOT the Beat's "Step back". The
agency declined an interview request.
The coronavirus pandemic made the task a little trickier by
ruling out travel, forcing Kaneko to record a series of videos,
including one of her explaining the choreography while dancing
very slowly and another of her performing in formation with
others.
"She's working internationally and choreographing for big stars
at a young age," said 22-year-old dance student, Shoya Yamada,
who was attending a hip hop class in a Tokyo studio. "I'm so
proud and happy for her because she's my teacher."
As well as teaching in Tokyo, Kaneko holds online classes for
dancers abroad and choreographs stage performances for Japanese
artists.
For dancing inspiration, she likes to go shopping in the Tokyo
fashion district of Harajuku, and says that while her resume
hits new heights, she will always be the girl-next-door who
genuinely just loves to dance.
"My goal at the moment is to show the world how amazing dance
truly is," she said.
(Reporting By Akiko Okamoto; Editing by Jane Wardell)
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