Pointe Shoes ProgramDancing is such a great way to bring people together.
This week we are featuring K-NDC, a Germany based dance group that specializes in K-Pop music.
These 4 girls spend their free time choreographing amazing dance routines for their successful youtube channel as well as performing live!
We chatted with I.vy, MJ, Lydia and Pia about all things K-DNC!
What is K-NDC?
K-NDC is a Germany based dance group mainly dancing to Korean pop music
(K-Pop).
Originally, K-NDC stands for K-Pop New Dance Crew, because we just had to come
up with a name, but then we could identify with it and so we kept it. Plus, it
sounds a bit like “Candy Sea“! We are currently 4 active members but
we’re always happy to collaborate with other dancers. For example, we collab often with our
sister groups DASH and GR4VITY.
Describe your dance style:
MJ: We mainly dance to K-Pop or other Asian pop music. So basically we are
learning the original choreographies for the songs, but we are open to many
different styles. I think this is also where our individual charms show. Our
member I.vy for example has experiences in hip hop dancing, so her solo dance
covers usually go in a more urban direction, while Lydia is very quick in
learning uplifting pop choreographies. Our new member Pia has danced ballet for
many years, so we’re positive that she is a great addition to the group. As for
myself, my dance style is considered cute which also shows in my solo
dance covers.
How long have you all been dancing for?
All of us have been dancing before, either attending courses or just for fun at home, but in this formation, we have been practicing together for over a year now. Pia joined only a few weeks ago, but we already feel like we’ve been dancing together for a long time.
How was K-NDC formed?
MJ: K-NDC was originally a duo consisting of our former leader and close friend LuNa and me. In 2013, I organized a K-Pop flashmob after which LuNa asked me if I would be interested in collaborating with her to make a dance cover. I agreed, but we never really got around to actually film it until recently. However, when we saw an announcement for a K-Pop Dance Contest, we decided to form a dance group and practiced together in order to participate. In the end, we didn’t make it to that contest, but we loved the idea of a dance group so we continued. We kept looking for more members and eventually ended up in our current constellation.
What have you learned through your dance group?
I.vy: I've learned to be more confident. Since I'm the youngest, I always appreciate it when the older members give me advice or motivate me. Although we are often pressed for time and living quite far away from each other, we still somehow get through everything. Everyone is doing their best and puts all their passion in it.
MJ: I think what we learned is that on the one hand, you can achieve a lot if everyone has the same motivation and determination. On the other hand, we also learned that it takes a lot of time and energy to do what we love to do, but in the end it’s definitely worth it!
Lydia: That we can achieve our goals even in the most chaotic circumstances, if we all work together and stay determined. Also, that it's so much more fun to dance with others than dancing alone.
Pia: I'm not that long with the group yet to say that I've already learned something through our dance group, but I'm sure that it can help me to believe in myself and will teach me that every goal can be achieved if you really want it. So I’m excited for the future!
What has been the biggest challenge?
Lydia: Finding time for group practices. We all have such different schedules and come from different cities, so it's not possible to meet up as often as we'd like to. Because of that, we always try to learn the dances by ourselves before we meet up in order to learn faster, and sometimes it's a challenge to squeeze in time to learn a dance in between class schedules, essays and homework.
Pia: My biggest challenge for now is to learn all these choreographies which the others mostly have learned before. In the beginning, I felt a bit pressured when I realized I have to learn choreographies as quick as possible for future covers and live performances and to get to my group members’ high dance level.
I.vy: My challenge was, is and always will be to perform solo. Seriously, I just can't get over this intimidating feeling of performing solo. I'm cool with it when we're filming as a group in public but as soon as I'm all alone or have a little solo part in a song, panic arises in me. I hope to overcome this!
MJ: My personal challenge was to manage and organize the members. Before we had this constellation, we had so many “try out members“ and just when I thought “Hey, it’s going in the right direction“, they dropped out so at one point we were really frustrated. Now I’m just really happy that I found this bunch of crazy people who are motivated and have the same goals.
What are you the most proud of?
Pia: I can only talk about the future but I'm sure that I will be really proud of our dance group when we finally have our live performances in summer, because we all know that the way to get there was really hard and stressful.
MJ: I’m really proud to see where we are now compared to how everything started. We have now over 400 subscribers on YouTube, almost 300 likes on Facebook and over 100 followers on Instagram and we are uploading new videos almost every week. For some, it might not be a ton, but considering that we can’t meet too often due to the distance, I think it’s really awesome! And we’ve got some live performances coming up, so…I’m proud of my girls for working hard!
I.vy: I love the feeling when we stand on stage at the end of a performance. When everyone is clapping and we're holding hands and bow to the audience. Also, when we finish a collaboration project with other dancers and dance groups. Because of distance and time management, it unfortunately takes really long for us to finish such amazing projects.
Lydia: I feel super proud every time we finish filming a dance cover or get to stand on stage together! It just feels really nice to know that we worked hard and actually finished a project together.
What are your goals for the future of K-NDC?
MJ: All of our members are busy with studies and work, so while younger dance groups can just enjoy dancing together, we are constantly thinking about what-ifs. But I just wish we can continue dancing together for as long as possible...and maybe get a good placement in a contest!
I.vy: To have as many live performances as possible. I came to this group because we were dancing to have fun and enjoy K-Pop while we're passionately dancing to it. So I hope that we will continue for a longer time although we're getting older.
Lydia: Hopefully continue dancing together for some more time and make more covers. I'm also looking forward to future collaborations with others groups which I’m sure will be fun, too!
Pia: I wish we can continue dancing as long as possible now that I'm finally a part of this wonderful dance group. So hopefully we will carry on having fun with filming dance covers, having live performances and participating in contests.
K-NDC on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/wearekndc
K-NDC on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kndcofficial
K-NDC on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/kndcofficial
Want to be a featured dancer? Email us at kathleen@danzia.com with your story!
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