The October 4 episode of EBS documentary series Witnessing the Era featured Lia Kim, one of K-pop’s leading choreographers and the head of 1MILLION.
During the episode, Lia Kim opened up about the efforts she made to rebuild her career through choreography after enduring a seven-to-eight-year slump. Putting aside her pride, Lia Kim approached younger dancers for opportunities to participate in projects and learn from them, adopting the mindset of starting over from the beginning. Her efforts eventually led to some of K-pop’s most recognizable choreography, including TWICE’s “TT,” I.O.I’s “Very Very Very,” and Sunmi’s iconic finger-gun dance from “Gashina,” helping establish her distinctive presence in the industry.
Choreographer Kany said, “K-pop has always had signature choreography that visually expresses a song in an intuitive way. That allows it to remain in the public’s memory for much longer. Lia Kim is exactly the kind of choreographer who creates those dances.” Kany named Hwasa’s “Maria” and Sunmi’s “Gashina” among her favorite works by Lia Kim, adding, “I especially love ‘Gashina.’ It’s simple, but you immediately remember the choreography.”
Sunmi, who has worked with Lia Kim for many years, revealed that she personally asked the choreographer to create the dance for “24 Hours.” Sunmi explained, “I was convinced that she was someone who could go beyond the choreography we had typically seen in the Korean music industry and create something perfectly tailored to the artist’s character.”
For Lia Kim, the character of the artist is the most important consideration when creating choreography. She explained, “A performance that doesn’t convey the artist’s unique identity doesn’t have much appeal,” adding that she incorporated the qualities she personally saw in Sunmi into the choreography.
Expressing her admiration for Lia Kim, Sunmi said, “Before Lia Kim, K-pop choreography was cool dancing. After Lia Kim, K-pop choreography became a story. She is someone who turned movements that could simply pass by into memorable scenes.”
Sources: Daum