W hen Xingxi Wang started running K-pop dance classes in Birmingham , she rented a small room in Chinatown. Within a few years, demand had grown so much that she was able to open her own studio where she now runs up to 10 classes a week. Like many K-pop fans, Wang, 25, has been teaching herself dance routines at home since she was a teenager at school.
Slick, synchronised choreography is a key component of K-pop, along with the fashionable outfits and synthesised music that define the genre. “I didn’t realise how popular it would be when I started, but I found out there are so many people who want to come to K-pop dance classes,” Wang said. “So I decided to create my own K-pop studio.
We’ve had to set up a maximum number of people for each class as we’ve had so many people wanting to join.” When the Guardian went along to try a class, it was busy for a rainy Thursday evening, with about 12 women in the studio. They had varying levels of dance experience and were united by all being big K-pop fans.
K-pop artists have been growing in prominence in the UK in recent years. In June, Seventeen became the first K-pop band to play at Glastonbury . BTS were the first K-pop band to headline Wembley Stadium, in 2019, and Blackpink have headlined BST Hyde Park.
The genre’s global reach is huge: four of the top 10 bestselling acts in 2023 came from South Korea, according to the music industry body IFPI. Dance classes have been springing up in response to K-pop’s growing .