By: Muziah Kargbo
Club Board:
President: Sharon Ge
Vice President: Serena Gao
Treasurer: Alexandra Wang
Creative Chair: Kylie Shen, Cyan Bai
Publicity Chair: Vivi Wang
Outreach Chair: Annie Zhang
Social Links:
Instagram: uncunicorndance | Facebook: uncunicorndance | Youtube: UNC UNiCorn | Bilibili: UNiCornUNC (in Chinese)
Starting with this post and for the rest of the semester I’ll present a blog series based on different Asia-related clubs around UNC. To start off this new series, I was able to interview a new club called UNiCorn K-pop Dance Cover Team, which as you can guess, is a club that does dance covers of Korean pop songs. Named with UNC in mind, hence UNiCorn, not Unicorn, the group has already achieved some popularity through performing at Knite, a showcase of all things Korean held by KASA, and by uploading their first cover of a song titled, “What is Love?” by a popular Korean girl group called Twice. At the time of writing this, the video has reached over 400 views on YouTube and was uploaded back in December so the members had to perform outside in the freezing cold showing how passionate they are about K-pop and their club. They even have a fandom name, Corn! But how did this club begin and what can we expect from the Unicorns?
Well, it all started when the president of the club and long-time lover of K-pop, Sharon Ge, noticed on her arrival to UNC from Washington State University that there were no dance clubs focused on K-pop culture. She also noted that many of the dance clubs on UNC were restricted to higher-leveled or skilled dancers and so felt she needed to create not only a space to spread her passion for K-pop and its dances but also a friendly environment for students who have little to no experience dancing, let alone to K-pop (which is quite hard at times, I know from experience). And so, she along with some friends who held similar interests in K-pop, formed this dance team late last semester to provide a club that shared K-pop culture for anyone and everyone, regardless of your experience, ethnicity, or gender. Sharon also aimed to reduce academic stress by providing a fun activity that anyone can try. So why not go take the stress of studying by Kpopping?
I’m sure after that riveting exposé, you are interested in knowing just how to become involved and be a fellow Unicorn. Well, Sharon admitted that they are still working out how membership will be defined but ultimately you should expect a few things. First, you have to participate in cover practices and be ready to do stage performances around campus and the community as the team is connected to several other Asia-related clubs like KASA and Moonlight. And you should expect dues of $20 for the whole school year. However, if you are not interested in being an official member and just want to enjoy the lighter side of dancing to K-pop, then the team offers monthly dance workshops that will teach a couple of popular dances for the general public so anyone can attend for FREE!
For the future of the club, Sharon and the others hope to continue performing and dancing at such events as Admitted Students Day, Arts Everywhere, the Asian Cultural Festival and more while earnestly trying to recruit others with a similar interest in K-pop. I would also encourage anyone who has a mild interest in exploring other cultures in general to give this club a shot especially if they enjoy dancing. The club members were very earnest about wanting to include everyone and anyone and are eager to engage with their community especially non-Asians since clubs like these can be viewed as more of an Asian thing. They plan to take dance requests, organize parties and Korean drama viewings, and more. The only thing you need to do is RSVP and show up!