By Korea.net Honorary Reporters Dina Khaled and Sara Khaled from Egypt

The K-pop academy was held for the third time in the Korean Cultural Center in Egypt for all the Korean pop lovers and people interested in dancing and singing in general. The academy introduced some information about Korean culture and language. We decided to participate this year in this event and, as we thought we would, we enjoyed the experience a lot.

This year in the academy, students began learning both dancing and singing together, so it was special this year and more professional than last year.

The K-pop academy opened on July 10 and the classes continued till Aug. 16. On the first day of the academy, the director of the Korean Cultural Center in Egypt made a greeting speech for the visitors and then an introductory lecture was held to give information to students about Korean pop in general.

After that we enjoyed a presentation introducing us to some sweet Korean snacks and how they are made, and there were also two booths to try Korean makeup and have Korean snacks. So we had a chance to try some different Korean snacks and drinks from a Korean café and had Korean makeup done by Korean girls who attended the event. Furthermore, the students participating in the event began introducing themselves to each other and danced together to different Korean songs.

The academy was divided into beginner's and advanced classes and each class took different songs and dance choreographies according to the level of the students. Three different teachers came especially from Korea to teach us different songs and different dance choreographies.



Our teacher filled the K-pop beginner’s singing class with a warm atmosphere from the first day by introducing the students to each other and giving each one of us a Korean name which suited his or her personality. She also gave us a lot of information about different K-pop groups, encouraged us to sing on stage and taught us lots of useful tips to improve our singing.

The students were divided into four groups and each group had a specific song to sing. The songs were "Love scenario" by IKON, "Signal" by Twice, "Bad Boy" by Red Velvet, and "It hurts" by 2NE1, and there was a group song "UR" by Taeyeon.

Students in the beginners class learned two dances to the songs "What is Love" by Twice and "BBoom BBoom" by Momoland, while the advanced class students learned "Boomerang" by Wanna One.

Students learning Twice’s dance claimed that the song contained many steps and that the rhythm was really rapid but the dance moves were really cute so they were eager to learn them. And they found "BBoom BBoom" really fun to learn.

The closing ceremony was held on the last day of the academy which included a performance by the students. All the students of the academy received presents and a certificate from the director of the Korean Cultural Center. The presents included a wireless microphone and the outstanding students received cell phones.

wisdom117@korea.kr

* This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.