The Tufts Korean Dance Association helps those with a love for the South Korean music genre
With KoDA, Tufts students have the opportunity to perform to their favorite K-Pop songs. Photo: Alonso Nichols
When Lexi Pasternak joined KoDA, the Tufts Korean Dance Association, as a first-year student, she had never danced before. She’d been a K-pop fan for years, jamming out to the music of her favorite groups while doing homework.
She jumped at the chance to join the K-pop dance group whose ethos was to welcome anyone, regardless of experience.
"For a lot of us growing up in middle and high school, being into K-pop is kind of seen as this fringier thing,” said Pasternak, now a senior and KoDA public relations chair. “A lot of people are closeted K-pop stans, honestly. To be able to embrace that sort of interest in such a fun, impressive way through dance is really cool.”
That sentiment resonates with many members of KoDA, who have found a community for an interest they didn’t get to express outwardly before attending Tufts.
One participant who's a graduate student said she had always wanted to join her undergraduate college’s K-pop dance group, but she was too nervous to do so. She was glad to have the opportunity to try again at Tufts.
Even though K-pop groups sell millions of records every year, many members of KoDA felt their interest in the South Korean art form was niche prior to now, as the genre was not as mainstream as it has become in the past year. The music, which can include pop, hip-hop, and rock sounds, features many girl groups and boy bands, like BLACKPINK and BTS.
Many K-pop fans are often heavily devoted to supporting their favorite artists. Learning the chorography from group performances, supporting the musicians online, attending concerts, and purchasing merchandise is often typical of the fandom culture.
The Tufts group’s fall showcase theme was KoDA: Gnarly and featured performances by students as well as by other local K-pop dance groups, like UMass Boston’s Whisper. KoDA performed to a packed crowd at the Cohen Auditorium, dancing to songs like “This is For” by Twice, “Fearless” by Le Sserafim, and “Do the Dance” by ILLIT.
The theme was based on the song “Gnarly” by Katseye, a global girl group that is not strictly K-pop, but was formed as a collaboration between two record labels, one Korean and the other American. The group is just one example of how K-pop has become a global phenomenon; the popularity of the Netflix film “KPop Demon Hunters” being another. K-pop has exploded in popularity. In turn, so has participation in KoDA, which was founded in 2018 and now has nearly 70 members.
Junior Camille Young, KoDA’s social media chair, made it a priority when she was applying to colleges that the school she would attend had a K-pop dance cover group.
“You don't need any experience to be in KoDA,” Young said. “When I was first getting into K-pop, it wasn't really a cool thing. It was one of those things that you had to keep to yourself, because other people would say ‘That's weird.’ But being in a space now where it's so celebrated, it's such a joy to be able to watch people come in and find a love of dance.”
It’s that openness that draws students to the group, which is typically working on eight projects at a time. Members can audition for filmed performances similar to music videos made by K-pop groups, or participate without tryouts for performance projects that become part of the group’s seasonal showcases. There are even five projects going on during winter break, keeping students busy when class isn’t in session.
Anyone can lead projects — they just have to go through a short interview process of teaching the choreography from a K-pop group’s music video to an executive board member, then see if the song gets enough votes from members in the club’s Discord channel.
KoDA members film one of their video projects, where they cover dances by K-Pop groups. Photos: Alonso Nichols
“It’s not designed to be scary,” said Pasternak. Students may come to workshops to learn a dance without fully committing to a project and can participate in a level that’s comfortable to them.
“Going outside my comfort zone has been really awesome for me, because it's empowering to dance and to dress up with these cool costumes, and work as a team and be excited about making this thing that we've all put our time and love into,” Pasternak said.
What is it about K-pop that gets fans so hooked? One thing that brings in so many fans is that it's not a genre consisting of one singular sound, dance captain and senior Bel Poh said.
“There's something for everyone in the genre,” she said. “If you like rock songs, then there's K-rock. There's also poppy songs. I think there's that stigma that people have that K-pop isn't real music, but the lyrics have meaning.”
K-pop dancing is often very accessible, as music groups post videos of just the dance choreography for their songs, allowing fans to learn the moves at home.
“K-pop fan culture itself really motivates and inspires people to want to take the next step to try doing a full cover, or learning the chorus of a new dance,” Young said. “It’s already built into the K-pop stan community and that sets us up pretty well to take people in and say, ‘dip your toes and have some fun,’ and then later you could be someone who is auditioning for video projects.”
K-pop has even connected Pasternak with people across the world. When she studied abroad in Paris, she joined a K-pop cover group there, where she performed in front of the Eiffel Tower.
Beyond dancing, KoDA hosts bonding events outside of rehearsals, where members can discuss the newest single from their favorite group, practice together, or just talk about life as a student at Tufts.
For members of KoDA’s executive board, the group is a big time commitment. Poh said she usually spends more than 15 hours a week leading dances, attending practices, going to eboard meetings, and helping schedule rehearsals.
“The KoDA eboard is a great example of ‘it takes a village’ to make something great happen,” Young said.
