K-Pop Dances For Beginners

I started dancing at the tail end of 2019, thus beginning my path to becoming the most goated, epic dancer of all time. This was great since I would soon find myself with a lot of unexpected time on my hands in 2020. Time in which I would not be able to leave the house, but I cannot remember why.

I learned Psycho by Red Velvet, an absolute queerbaiting earworm of a song, in my PLG 5'x5' bedroom. I remember how hard it was to pop my knees out, how impossible it was to shift my head side-to-side, how off-beat I felt to specific syncopated moves. Shit sucked so hard, I actually covered my face in the first dance video I took of myself because I hated the way I looked when I was dancing.

Psycho's choreography is no longer a behemoth to me. It's actually quite simple, with all of the moves being pretty disconnected from each other to make it digestible for a fan, and easy to perform for an idol.

However, if you told me you wanted to learn a K-Pop dance as a total beginner and asked where you should start, I would not recommend this one to you for multiple reasons. It loves using footwork here and there in the off-beat, it requires you to do that weird knee-poppy move that is unnatural to most people, and it makes you do repeated moves with slightly different variations every time it repeats, making it hard to memorize.

Instead, I would recommend you these following choreographies that are simple, natural, and easy on the body. Please note that I am only recommending the chorus choreography of these songs, and that the videos linked below are mirrored for you to learn for reasons explained here. And also note that they are bops in their own right, and even if you're not learning the dance, I hope you find the next song to stick around in your head.

Not Cute Anymore - ILLIT

Why it's easy: The 99-bpm speed of this song is laid back, and its prominent um-pah um-pah beat makes it easy to follow the rhythm of the moves. It features mostly hand movements with very little footwork, and most of the charm comes from the often-repeated simple head bob anyway.

Flower - Jisoo

Why it's easy: The iconic hand flower move is slow and easy enough to mirror, with your wrists twisting together clockwise, and then counter-clockwise. It's also accompanied by an easy sway of the hips back and forth. The hand movements for the rest of the choreo are distinct and natural enough, even if the feet are moving at the same time.

Catch Catch - YENA

Why it's easy: The whole chorus is basically 3 different moves repeated, and it's greatest strength is that it's bouncy. So if you put a little energy into it and smile, you'll look just as fun and cute as Choi Yena!

Thumbs Up - Momoland

Why it's easy: Another choreography that is mostly 3 different moves repeated. You just need a sway of the hips for the most part, and as the title suggests, the hand movements are mostly just a thumbs up. There is a most complicated part in the middle bit of the chorus, but still very doable for a beginner.

Fun fact: This is the first K-Pop choreo I tried teaching Charlie because of how easy it is, and she picked it up pretty well!

Bang Bang Bang - BIG BANG

Why it's easy: A boy group dance, for a change! It's, once again, a chorus with 3 easily repeatable moves and very little footwork. You'll repeat these moves left to right and left to right and left to right again. Your hands will basically be in the finger guns pose the entire time, which I KNOW a lot of you like to do anyway, you jokesters.

It is not common for absolute beginners to pick up a choreography first try, so don't feel disheartened if you feel stuck at certain parts or cannot remember these steps for the life of you. Similar to learning an instrument, you can do the choreography at 50% speed to learn it slowly so your brain has time to process the moves, ramp up to 75%, and then to 100% speed. Learning how to pick up your first choreography will set the foundation of how to move in your body, and thus beginning your path to becoming the most epic, goated dancer alongside me. So take your time! I will wait patiently at the top.