By: Keylee Fillingim | Contributing Writer
South Alabama’s Hallyu club held its K-Pop Dance Night, on Wednesday, Oct. 30, in the Student Recreation Center. Hallyu is defined as “Korean Wave”, which refers to South Korea’s recent popularity to pop-culture in other countries. USA Hallyu brings students together with a common interest in South Korea.
“When coming up with a name for the club, we thought this would be the perfect name because USA Hallyu’s goals are to help spread more interest in Korean culture as well as bringing together people who already share this interest,” said USA Hallyu president Jazzlyn Hatcher.
K-POP is a genre of pop music that originated from South Korea. It has become more and more popular in North America over the past decade. BTS, EXO, or BLACKPINK are just a few of the K-Pop groups taking over the charts in recent years.
Hatcher taught her members a dance for song “Peek-A-Boo” by K-Pop band Red Velvet, an all girl K-Pop group who made their debut in 2014. The band consists of five members: Irene, Yeri, Wendy, Joy and SEULGI.
USA Hallyu has been in the works since spring 2017, but got officialized in the fall of 2017. President Hatcher has been with USA Hallyu since the very beginning. She is a founding member of the club.
“It took a lot to get Hallyu up and going, but I’m happy that it is at the point it is today,” said Hatcher.
Every two weeks the club meets together for an event, whether for a dance night, a cooking class, or to watch a film.
“We really try to offer a variety of events,” said Hatcher. “We really want to have events that cater to both pop culture, and more traditional Korean culture.”
Madison Smith has been part of USA Hallyu for a few months. She shares every now and then USA Hallyu will gather everyone for a dance lesson. Even though they won’t actually perform the dance, they enjoy getting together and learning the moves just for a night of fun.
“Since it’s Halloween, we decided to pick a Halloween song and dress up in costumes,” said Smith.
Hatcher described Red Velvet’s “Peek-A-Boo” as “spooky” themed to fit well with the holiday and allowed students to come dressed in costume.
Hallyu is a way for students who share a common interest in the South Korean culture to come together and enjoy different activities that involve the culture. USA Hallyu member Celia Schnuettgen has always been interested in other cultures. She shared that she learned about K-Pop in high school from a friend, and she figured Hallyu would be an opportunity to learn more about the Korean Culture.
“Hallyu is such a lovely and welcoming community,” said Schnuettgen. “It is fun learning about and experiencing Korean culture with them.”
If you are interested in learning about South Korean culture you can join USA Hallyu by emailing USA Hallyu president Hatcher at JAH1529@jagmail.southalabama.edu. Be sure to follow @usa_hallyu on instagram for more information on upcoming events.
Jag Media 