Every weekend, hundreds of fans of Korean music and dance gather in Parque Mariscal Castilla in Lince, to meet with other fans and practice their dance routines.
In groups of three to ten, with a small sound system and a leader or manager watching, the “Kpoppers”, Korean Pop dancers, synchronise their moves and rehearse performances.
“Kpop is mainly about pretty boys, with tiny legs, makeup and school uniforms,” according to Ju Hye, a Korean studying in Lima. “But there is a rap and hip hop scene in Korea too, which is more edgy. There are people here dancing to the mainstream, Show Me The Money probably, or Unpretty Rockstar, but I can hear some more underground styles too.”
Kpop first entered Peru through Korean soap operas starting in 2002. Dubbed in Spanish, these dramas were provided by the Korean government. Over 20 Korean dramas have been shown on Peru TV in the past 15 years, “Boys over Flower” and “You Are Beautiful” being the most recent.
Academics like Nusta Carranza Ko of Purdue University have highlighted the Cinderella story in much of the Korean soap operas, known as novelas in Latin America, where a poor lower class girl is rescued from her limited prospects by a rich high status man. The heroine rises from her social class through love.
The kpop fans, Nusta Ko found from research in Lima in 2012, were largely from low income families and living in the margins of the city. They were, however, ambitious and well educated. “70% of Kpop fans are completing or have already completed a university degree.” according to Nusta, “and 90% are female”.
There are 55 registered fan clubs in Peru. The fans produce newsletters, get together to celebrate their stars’ birthdays, often in one of Lima’s Korean restaurants, and do charitable work around Lima. Kpop star Thunder performed at La Mistura in September. There are shops selling kpop fashions in Barrio Chino, Gamarra, and Lince. Centro Commercial Arenales in Lince is a centre of Korean merchandise, music, fashion, videos.
The youngsters rehearsing their dance moves in Parque Mariscal Castilla are fun but serious. Many videos of the dancers are posted on YouTube ( https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Aci9_iQyn7U). What they are doing involved many skills – teamwork, timing, athleticism, grace and strength. While Lima papers tell of youngsters drifting into crime, drug abuse and prostitution, these hard-working youngsters are striving to improve themselves and make something new.
Or they were. On my last visit the park was strangely quiet. Four kpoppers sitting in the park told me what was going on. “The dancers have all gone to Campo de Marte. The municipality has forbidden dancing here,” Tiffany and Katia told me.
“So if I start dancing here?” I asked….”Yes, they will take you away. We can not even meet up together. People smoke drugs in the park here, they drink and they do nothing. But if you dance…”
In the centre of Ave Cesar Vallejo, the road which bisects the park, is a statue of the “young student”, a girl in jeans and trainers. But the young students who spend the weekend dancing have moved.
Over in Campo de Marte in neighbouring Jesus Maria, there are hundreds of people dancing, many rehearsing for Candelaria in January – “We are from Puno” they tell me, “Puno, Bolivia.” The dancers play music, stamp their feet and blow whistles. Other groups are performing the Marinera, flowing multi-layered skirts pulled on over their jeans, hankerchiefs in their hands. The kpoppers are there, dancing and laughing. Someone tries to fly a kite. A child on roller blades falls over. Old people block the footpaths, walking very slowly. Its a great public park.