Tourists take a selfie in front of a mural of K-pop band BTS members to celebrate its 10th anniversary on the outer wall of a building in Seoul, South Korea on Wednesday.
While Cifra and others express their love for K-pop from Canada, thousands of fans travelled to Seoul over the weekend to celebrate BTS's 10th anniversary. The group ushered K-pop into the North American consciousness five years ago, becoming the industry's first act to reach number one on the U.S. albums chart in 2018.
Oh teaches a K-pop dance course at the university, which she says is the first of its kind in the U.S. She's watched fans spill into the capital city from all around the world and, not unlike a holy pilgrimage, visit sites where the famous boy band has studied, rehearsed and performed."I feel the liveliness of the city and a lot of global fans' love and interest in learning ... the local context and the origin of K-pop in Seoul," she told CBC News.
Even as fans eye K-pop as a long-term professional pursuit, a shadow of mental health issues and suspected suicides continues to linger over the industry, which is known for strenuous training programs and difficult working conditions that sometimes puts undue pressure on its idols.We hear from a local teen who's behind a K-Pop sensation's new hit
"K-pop idols are professional, highly dedicated, highly trained artists," not unlike Olympic athletes, Oh said.As K-pop swept the Internet, social media became the premiere forum to learn and practice the industry's performance model. Fans began copying and posting videos of themselves doing "point choreography," a form of dance easily replicated and usually informed by a K-pop song's lyrics.