Want To Be Taught A Dance Routine From TVXQ's Choreographer?

Well, you're in bloody good luck!

The London KPop Dance Workshop - which I run alongside with my work partner Tammy - have managed to get an SMEntertainment backing dancer and choreographer to come to London to teach you dance routines! Don't tell me that isn't amazing, because if you think it isn't...you're nuts.

We are being sponsored by OZ-Partners, a Korean company that Tammy and I worked with on the London MBC Auditions. Together, we have managed to make this happen for the UK Kpop fans.

So Who Is This Choreographer? 
His name is Baek Koo Young (백구영) and currently works with SMEntertainment. As stated in the title, he is the backing dancer and choreographer of TVXQ (DBSK!!) but he has also worked with: SHINee, Girls' Generation, f(x), After School, Son Dam Bi, Baek Ji Young, Crown-J, Jang Woo Hyuk and many more. Recognise any of those names? Of course you do. This man's big and he's willing to teach YOU!

He is also teaching in Paris for 4 days from 25th-28th October and has managed to make a short video for the Paris workshops. Unfortunately we have not received a video for the London ones (yet) but just so you can see what he looks like...(I apologise that these videos aren't embedded. For someone reason it won't work!)

Message from Baek Koo Young - For Paris - English Version.

Message from Baek Koo Young - For Paris - Korean Version.

Baek Koo Young is featured TVXQ's music video "Before U Go"



So What Are The Details?
DATE: 29th October 2011 (Saturday)
TIME: 10:45am - 3:15pm
VENUE: Husky Studios, 29a Amelia Street, London, SE17 3PY, Elephant and Castle. Just a short 10 minute walk away from Elephant and Castle and Kennington tube stations.


What's The Schedule?
10:45am - 11:00am = Registration
11:00am - 12:45pm = Session 1 (TVXQ dance - song unconfirmed)
12:45pm - 13:30pm = Lunch / 2nd session registration / merchandise selling
13:30pm - 15:15pm = Session 2 (Super Junior dance - song unconfirmed)


Do We Have To Pay?
Erm, well yes. But we promise you it's cheap! We understand that many of our KPop fans are teenagers/students, and in this day and age money is hard to come by. But we are having to pay for his travel, the studio and his time, and if we could make it free then we would, but unfortunately we don't have money coming out of our ears either.


So How Much Is It Then?
It entirely depends on how many sessions you want to attend.
One session only: £15
Whole workshop: £25


And that's all it costs!


So How Do We Tell You We're Attending And How Do We Pay?
Easy peasy. Just go to our event page (link is below), click "attend" and then send an e-mail to Londonkpopdance@gmail.com asking for an invoice, stating how many people are attending and what session(s) you want to attend. We will then send you an invoice, where you will pay by card and then your place is booked! Simple!


We're using PayPal for payments. PayPal is free to use so when you purchase your spot, that's all you're paying for. No add-ons whatsoever! Plus, you don't even need to have an account with PayPal to pay! How much easier can it get?!


ALL PAYMENTS MUST BE PAID IN ADVANCE. THIS IS SO WE KNOW PEOPLE ARE DEFINITELY COMING. HIRING A STUDIO IS EXPENSIVE, NOT TO MENTION WHAT WE'VE HAD TO PAY FOR TRAVEL. WE DIDN'T ORGANISE THIS JUST FOR PEOPLE TO NOT TURN UP! IF YOU'RE PAYING, YOU'RE COMING. NO PAYMENT, NO SPOT, NO CLASS AND THAT'S FINAL. IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU PAY AS SOON AS YOU CAN. WE CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. CLICKING "ATTEND" ON FACEBOOK DOES NOT MEAN YOUR PLACE IS BOOKED. ENQUIRING FOR AN INVOICE DOES NOT MEAN YOUR PLACE IS BOOKED. PAYMENT DOES.

I'm Definitely Coming! Any Other Details I Need To Know About?!
Yes. We are also selling merchandise! Go to our Facebook fanpage to check out what we're selling.
Please read the following sub-headings:

Attire:
It is advisable to wear gym clothes, baggy clothes, sweat pants, leggings, etc. Basically anything you consider 'comfortable' and something you feel you can move in. As for footwear, you are allowed to wear trainers or plimsolls **AS LONG AS THEY ARE CLEAN** You are not allowed to dance in socks due to health and safety regulations. If you have dance shoes, feel free to use those as well or dance in bare feet.

Food:
**If you choose to attend BOTH SESSIONS please bring a packed lunch**
Also, bring water or something to drink. It is advisable not to bring sugary drinks because these types of drinks usually make you feel more dehydrated. Any litter from food must be cleared. These studios do not belong to the London Kpop Dance Workshop team or OZ-Partners, so please respect the studio rules. 

 And that's it!! If you have any questions then please don't hesitate to ask.


FACEBOOK
EVENT PAGE 
TWITTER
londonkpopdance@gmail.com

MBC UK Auditions - The Aftermath!

Yesterday was the MBC Auditions in London, and I have to say I can't remember the last time work was so much fun!

As a big K-Pop fan, I was delighted when I was asked to help out with the project. It's been a bit stressful at times; calling people around the UK and Europe making sure they're still attending, writing e-mails, not hearing back from people, trying to sort things out a.s.a.p, organise some filming... it's been one hell of a ride! I thoroughly enjoyed helping out with all the organising though - a massive thank you to Martin who trusted me enough with the job and gave me the chance. I hope I did you proud!

August 6th seemed so far away when I was asked to help but all of a sudden it seemed to come round in a heartbeat. Excited, I jumped on a London bound train and arrived at Westminster Central Hall at quarter to nine in the morning.

There was hardly anyone there and for a while I was the only English person around! More Korean workers came in after some time and Martin gave us a tour around the building...all in Korean I might add! After the tour he explained a couple more things in Korean while I just kind of stood there trying to stifle my giggles. I really had no idea what was going on! Eventually he went silent and looked around the room, so I assumed that the last thing he said was "Are there any questions?" so I sheepishly put my hand up and said "Can I have a translation in English please?" which made quite a few people laugh! Thankfully some of the Koreans knew English!

It was exciting watching all the cameras being set up, and looking around me I couldn't believe I was part of such a big production. Bit hard to believe I was working for a Korean TV channel and that all of this was going to be aired in another country! And the fact that I helped organise a few bits too. It was just really special to work behind the scenes and see it physically come together, and come together so well! 

Some of the crowd outside

My post was on the registration desk where I would sign in the English and European contestants. We had an excel sheet on our laptops that had a list of all the contestants who applied; we had to find their application, staple their consent form to it and then give them a number. I'd like to say it was easy,  except that we often had trouble with the application forms! Sometimes they weren't in a folder so we had to print it off instead, or sometimes their application wasn't on the system at all so they had to fill out a new one. I think a lot of pens mysteriously went missing...

Anyway, after a short while everyone was gathered onto the top balcony so they could film the contestants chanting in Korean. (Martin was great at getting everyone's attention -  considering he's so little it's surprising how much his voice can BOOM. Mind you, it was a bit echoey...anyway...!)
Shortly after they gathered everyone into the waiting room so they could watch Shayne and Hyung Woo-Cho perform a duet together. They were both contestants on the previous series; Shayne's from Canada and Hyung is from Korea, although he did live in Surrey, England for about 4 years if my memory serves me right, so his English was very good!
I watched some of the performance and a camera man clocked me. He said he knew who I was, which was very bizarre! Turns out he knew of the videos I took at Abbey Road Studios when SHINee came, and said he'd like to interview me! He gave me his business card so I need to get in touch with him at some point...very cool and very weird at the same time...In fact, I had a couple of Korean TV camera crew people saying they recognised me. I'm really not sure how! One said he thinks he saw me on TV...I did appear on Korean TV for like a split second once, but that was it! Very, very bizarre!!
After that the signing in commenced! It was a real buzz, really loved it. Everyone that was working on the desk was so lovely and friendly too which made the whole experience that much more awesome, so thanks everyone! It was fantastic to work with you all.

Spreadsheet!

Folders upon folders...

Contestants on balcony!

Contestants in waiting room watching Shayne and Woo-Cho sing

Shayne and Hyung Woo-Cho

Soon it began to die down as most of the contestants had gone into the waiting room. We decided it was time to grab some lunch so we went to the staff room (Shayne warned us that the vegetarian sandwiches were "horrible", haha! Thanks Shayne. Maybe next time you should try the non-vegetarian variety as you're not a vegetarian?! Funny boy! I personally thought the ham sandwiches were quite good...)
The MC - Sang-Jin Oh - was in the staff room at a table on his own playing his guitar (although I didn't know it was actually him until I saw the orange jeans. I was teasing and saying to the girls how he was just attention seeking because he was playing guitar - jokingly of course - and then I saw it was him and realised he understood English perfectly. I hope he didn't hear me and think I was being serious...!) Eventually Hyung came in and sat down with us to have a chat, and then the camera man who knew of my videos came in too and joined us. Turns out he actually got my videos from SM ENTERTAINMENT THEMSELVES?!? I think I nearly died!

After that it was more work time! More signing in...and after a while there wasn't really anything to do at all. Shayne came to reception and sat next to me, laughing at all the British expressions I kept coming out with and used a laptop on the desk to surf the internet!

I began to wander around to see if there was anything to do elsewhere. I found some co-workers in the waiting hall, where I also saw Hyung and Sang-Jin. The girls convinced me to have a picture taken with both men (I was shy - can you blame me?!) so I did! Sang-Jin put his arm around me and did the peace sign, and Hyung lent in and put his head close to mine as we posed for our photo. Many thanks to the girls that took the pictures for me!

Me and Hyung Woo-Cho

Me and Sang-Jin Oh

Major LOL at the Korean dudes behind us!

Soon after I got to chat with Sang-Jin for quite some time, about 15-20 minutes! He's a very nice, approachable man who loves his job - he's been to the UK about 4 times hence the good English skills! He said I should have auditioned...well, maybe I would have if I could sing in Korean!!

After more milling around, more banter with Shayne and more snooping at all the behind the scenes stuff, it was time to clear up!!

 

Hyung being being filmed with an auditionee

A massive thank you to all who attended, it was a very successful day! And it was great to finally put a face to a name too with some of you! Thank you to the team for all your hard work and enthusiasm, thank you to Martin for, well, everything!! And a massive thank you the Shayne, Hyung Woo-Cho and Sang-Jin for coming over; it was a pleasure and a privilege to meet you all! I hope to see you again in the future and stay in touch!

Me and Shayne

Congratulations to those who got through, and for those who didn't...better luck next time!! ;-) Hopefully the MBC Auditions will come again next year!!