Dozens of Okay-pop and hip-hop followers turned Chinatown Sq. Plaza right into a dance ground Saturday as they grooved to the beats of BTS, BLACKPINK, Psy, Nelly Furtado, Missy Elliott and different Okay-pop and hip-hop artists.
For the Okay-pop portion, songs have been performed at random and individuals who knew the music’s choreography jumped right into a circle, transferring in sync regardless that many had by no means danced collectively earlier than.
Sarah Kuwahara, 16, who traveled for the occasion from Hoffman Estates, was a type of followers who knew the strikes to virtually all songs performed. She mentioned she first acquired into Okay-pop by BLACKPINK’s choreography on her personal in quarantine. Now she ceaselessly joins random dance occasions to carry out with fellow followers throughout Chicago.
The Okay-pop Random Dance occasion was a part of the primary “Youth of Chinatown,” a three-day pageant that options hip-hop and Okay-pop performances that goals to attach individuals throughout completely different cultures and create a group house, in response to organizer Felicia Jia.
“As we take into consideration how Chinatown is creating… it’s a hub in fact for meals, and other people love coming right here for boba, however I feel Youth of Chinatown actually took place as a result of we wanted a group house the place, you understand, particularly Asian American youth and youth of different cultures, can come expertise Chinatown simply apart from these companies,” Jia mentioned. “I feel hip-hop and Okay-pop are two large parts of youth tradition that carry individuals collectively, and what higher method to make use of the Chinatown house than to make two dance events, proper?”