San Jose State’s Associated Students held its first K-pop event with about roughly 100 students in attendance outside of Campus Village B Thursday.
The event celebrated K-pop, or Korean pop music, and featured K-pop dancing, snacks and giveaways centered around the genre.
Several SJSU community members expressed their appreciation for the event. Digital arts junior Jonathan Kwon said he really appreciates the artform of K-pop, especially because he is South Korean.
“For Korean people, K-pop is, like, a huge thing in South Korea and all around the world,” Kwon said. “So, I kind of like the music and I like the culture appreciation of K-pop.”
K-pop is part of the larger Hallyu movement, or “Korean wave,” which is the phenomenon of South Korean pop culture being popularized across the globe in the form of music, TV dramas and cosmetics items including skincare products, according to a Feb. 26, 2018 Vox News article.
SJSU alumna Brittney Wagner, a dance teacher who was at the K-pop popup, said she absolutely loves the genre.
“It’s just fun pop music,” Wagner said. “You don’t have to think too hard about it and it gives you a chance to kind of feel like a performer, like an idol.” Wagner said she taught a choreographed K-pop dance to students who attended the event.
Students could also see SJSU’s K-pop dance group Kesa perform, while listening to intense upbeat K-pop tunes in the process.
Business sophomore Julia Belangdal said there are two K-pop dance organizations on campus: Kesa and Parang.
Belangdal said while Parang wasn’t available to perform at the event, she is determined to incorporate both groups in future K-pop events on campus.
She also said there is a lot of planning behind an event like that.
“I had to do a lot of planning in terms of talking to the DJ, the photo booth and the choreographer from K-pop SF,” Belangdal said. “They gratefully were really nice and were able to come here and make this event really amazing.”
She said the event did a lot to bring the genre closer to the SJSU community.
“It basically puts K-pop out in the open, I’d say, for everyone on campus, especially the people in the housing area,” Belangdal said. “I don’t think we’ve had a K-pop event in the past. So I feel like this is something to introduce K-pop events on campus, just to open up that conversation and just having people enjoy K-pop in general.”
Justice studies senior Sasha Doctor said she heard about the event through the SJSU Associated Students Instagram account.
“I don’t listen to a lot of music much anymore, just because of school,” Doctor said. “So, this gave me an opportunity to come out and just listen and see what they had to do today.”
She also said she thought the event was a great idea.
“This pop-up gives a chance for those who don’t really listen to the genre an opportunity to listen . . . to the different types of language it can be, versus listening to music in English,” Doctor said.
