About 60 Nigerians have graduated from the 2025 KPop Vocal and Dance Academy Class hosted by the Korea Culture Centre, Nigeria (KCCN).
Established less than a decade ago, by the KCCN, the KPop Dance Academy enables Nigerian youths who are fans of Korea Popular Music (KPop) to learn the basic dance steps of the now global Korean contemporary culture phenomenon, in addition to learning to sing Korean songs.
The three-week classes which started from June 23 to July 11, saw 37 dance students and 23 vocal students trained by specialised and career Korean singer, Kim Jun-gyeom, and dancer and choreographer, Lee Hwa-won (aka Myula).
Speaking on their experience at the academy, one of the participants, a university undergraduate and amateur singer, Omi Samuel said the vocals skills and confidence to perform onstage, he acquired from the academy would help advance his singing hobby.
“During the class, the vocal teacher, Mr Jungyeom Kim, would give us Korean songs to learn and come back the next day to practice (onstage and accompanied by the piano). At first, I didn’t realise why he did that, because some of the songs were quite difficult.
“It was by the second week that I realised it, it helped develop our voice and improved on our confidence to sing onstage before our friends and fellow classmates today. The way I listen to music now is not the same as before,” said Omi who was awarded certificates for Best Student of the 2025 KPop Academy, and Perfect Attendance for both Vocal and Dance class.
For Henry Rita, also a first-time attendant of the academy, it was about learning to dance, something she has always been curious about and to practice as an amateur. The experience gave her insight into the basic fitness routines of professional dancers.
“I learnt the basic fitness routines to daily stretches – to prevent stiffness of the muscles. I also got to discover the amount of dedication dancers have to their craft, and how much dedication I have to put in to achieve my goal.”
For KPop dancer, Victoria Jimoh, the academy retrained her on the basics of KPop dance that she missed out on prior to the onset of her career.
Speaking of their time with the students, the academy instructors noted it was their first time teaching vocal singing and dancing in Africa.
Kim, a World KPop Dance trainer and the academy’s music teacher, this was also his first time teaching vocal singing in English. While the students were talkative, he appreciated the fact that they are passionate about the class, and paid gave him their attention when he demanded it.
Kim also focused on helping the students develop their high voices, as they learnt to sing accompanied by a piano, which is the biggest challenge for most singers.
“I will take the memory of our practice of the KPop song ‘Season of Love’ they did so well with the harmonization and rendition of the song.”
Dance teacher and choreographer, Myula, found it hard to choose any specific memory she cherished the most.
She finally settled for her ‘dancing for fun’ times with the students.
“I am more of an urban dancer. I travel a lot between China and the US, to dance. My students showed me Afrodance. It was hard.”
For the most part, Myula focused on developing the students basic dance routine like bounce, wave, isolation etc.
“I had them repeat the moves over and over. Repetition is the key. Also, it’s my first time teaching KPop dance and in English too, but the students did quite well,” she said.
Thrilled with the success of yet another KPop Academy, the center’s director Ju Jeong-ho commended the award-winning students, and all participants in the academy, in addition to the instructors’ talent and devotion to their students. “You all being here is evidence that the academy was a success.”
