K-Pop Dance: Fandoming Yourself on Social Media - Paperback

by Chuyun Oh (Author)

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.

Author Biography

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.