Aimee Lee Lucas, the choreographer responsible for the moves in many of Big Bang's music videos, spoke about her experiences working with YG at a recent KCON panel.
"K-pop sort of fell into my lap," said Lucas, who now teaches her moves at Music Video Party or M.V.P. dance classes. "It is so different from anything that is done in America or anywhere else in the world. And yet its so easy to learn. Anyone can do Gangnam style."
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Lucas shared her experiences on the second day of KCON and Lucas asked fans if they saw the concert on the first night. She said that she enjoyed it.
"I was so excited to see everyone and I watched G-dragon of course," she said,
But the difference between Lucas and the fans who also enjoyed G-dragon's performance is that she is responsible for some of his moves. YG invited her to Korea to help Big Bang develop a distinctive dance style.
But she says, she began working with G-dragon and the other members of Big Bang before she knew how big they were.
"We were just friends. We ate together. We worked together. I helped them get ready for commercials."
She also knew Park Bom, Sandara Park, Minzy and CL before they became 2NE1.
"It was before YG even picked a name for them," said Lucas. "And I see them now and think they were my babies."
At first she was just a choreographer but then YG asked her to also appear with the band.
"I became their hoochie mama, except that since k-pop is not really hoochie and is more bubblegum, I became their bubblegum girl."
She danced in concerts with both G-dragon and Taeyang, in at least two instances playing the object of their affections. And she taught them more than dance. She says she taught them a new way to relate to their fans.
"In Korea the fans chase the cars their idols are in. I was in the car with Taeyang and G-dragon and I told them to roll down the windows and talk to the fans. They are really good about interacting with fans now. GD is good about coming off the stage. Now they're always rolling down that window."
When she first was asked to choeograph songs for BigBang she often had no idea what the lyrics meant. At best there was only an English refrain. No one would send her a translation so she would just listen to the music until a move came to her.
"It's really weird," she said. "You just start doing something and it becomes very catchy."
She has been responsible for many great moves including Taeyang's choreography in "Wedding Dress" and the body roll that VIXX does.
And while some aspects of Korean culture made working there different than working with American performers, she stresses that dance is something that transcends borders.
"It's a language that is universally understood," said Lucas.
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