The past two decades has seen K-pop take the world by storm, with groups like BTS and BLACKPINK breaking global music records, and South Korean entertainment companies increasingly looking to scout international talent in order to produce the next hit group. Within Australia, the growing consumption of K-pop and burgeoning number of fan consumers has led to engagement in many different types of creative fan labour. One such form of fan activity is K-pop cover dancing, where K-pop idol choreography is learnt, practised, and performed to various audiences both through in-person and online events. However, K-pop cover dancers regularly face challenges and disruptions, as Australia’s historic perceptions of and engagement with Asia and Asian popular culture, as well as the country’s predominantly Anglo-Celtic mediascape shape the broader public’s reactions to their practices.

This talk explores how K-pop cover dancers engage with the broader public within Australian cities through practice and performance, drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Sydney as a key case study. Through training in public locations, and performances at government-backed events such as local festivals, K-pop cover dancers are able to positively shape the general public’s interactions and understanding of K-pop and Asian popular culture. This in turn challenges previously entrenched attitudes towards Asian popular culture, and can potentially help to foster beneficial ties between Australia, South Korea, and the broader Asia-Pacific region.

About the speaker:

Kathryn Phillips is a 3rd year PhD student at Macquarie University’s Department of Media, Communications, Creative Arts, Language and Literature, and a longstanding member of the Sydney K-pop cover dancing community. Her current ethnographic research focusses on K-pop fandom in Australia, with particular interest in the impact of K-pop cover dancing on broader Australia-Asia international relations. Previously, her Master of Research work explored K-pop’s social and spatial impact on the Tokyo cityscape, which led to a published paper with Dr Thomas Baudinette in Gender, Place & Culture. Recently, she submitted her dissertation: Producing Fan Identities through K-Pop Cover Dancing: Mimicry, Ontological Security, and Social Capital in Australia, and is now eagerly awaiting her results.

Register via Eventbrite.