Korean B-boys at Cairo opera house
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| The Expression Crew performs at the Cairo Opera House. |
By Korea.net Honorary Reporters Esraa Elzeny, Salwa Elzeny and Menna Allah Muhammad
Photos = Esraa Elzeny and Salwa Elzeny
For the second time in less than a year, the Expression Crew has come back to Egypt to perform at the Cairo Opera House. However, this time the performance is a little different. This show was presented by the Expression Crew in collaboration with sand artist Kim Ha Jun. The show was wonderful, as is usual for Korean troupes, which are very distinctive in the field of breakdancing. The Expression Crew is the most popular breakdancing troupe in Korea and has been performing since 1992. They were the first Asian breakdancing troupe to win the Battle of the Year championship in 2002 and the first Korean B-boy team to perform in New York in 2006. They ranked first among Interpark`s tickets sales in September 2007. They were selected as the best performance of the year by the popular entertainment show "Starking" in 2009. They came in second in the World of Dance Korea 2016 competition. They were on the Hit the Stage talent show in 2016 and they won the grand prize at the Korea Hip Hop Festival in 2016.
Sand artist Kim Ha Jun's exceptional talent is for storytelling and that's reflected in his work. His impressive performance captivates the audience, as he brings still objects, like sand, to life. He is among the world's most well renowned live sand animation artists. His marionette show was very professional in terms of movements and in his choice of fantastic background music. The sand art show was also more impressive and was influenced by the audience's emotions. The show started with a welcome speech from Ambassador Yoon Sun Ju, the ambassador from the Republic of Korea in Cairo. Then the second part of the show began with the sand art show and then the marionette musical. Then followed the sand art collaboration show, and then the Expression Crew performance, which surprised the audience with a new and special show specifically for their Egyptian audience. The audience was admired by the performers for its love of Korea and for the fact that many audience members followed a lot of K-pop. After the show, we had an exclusive interview with the leader of the Expression Crew, Woosung Lee.
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| Woosung Lee (second from left) poses for a photo with the Korea.net honorary reporters. |
- When was the Expression Crew formed?
The Expression Crew was formed in 1992 . I started dancing when I was 14, so I've been dancing for 30 years now. I’m considered one of the oldest dancers in Korea, and the Expression Crew is one of the oldest dance troupes, too. However, every once in a while we still add more shows. In 2002, the Expression Crew won the best dance crew award in an East Asia competition, and we started the marionette show in 2008. It's been almost 11 years now. We always do shows that are sponsored, but that's special about the marionette show is that it’s done with love and the desire of the dancers to do it. It’s the act that the dancers have worked hardest for. They've made great efforts over the past 11 years. A lot of dancers all over the world make special acts, but the marionette dance is such a unique and different performance that we're considered the only troupe that performs it. Also, the most recent dancer to join our troupe, Hyun Joon, is one of the most famous dancers in Korea and is such a great addition to our team.
- what do you think about the Egyptian audience?
When we came to Egypt last year for the first time, we were impressed with how people here love and support us. We'[ve been in some Arab countries, like Abu Dhabi, Bahrain and Jordan and others, but I guess Egyptians like us the most because we really had fun last year. We wanted to come again and we did a special show just for Egyptian fans of the balloon dance. If you look it up on our YouTube channel, you'll find that's it’s specially made for Egypt.
- How much training is required to reach to this professional level?
To be that professional, you have to cut out food and sleep, and practice all the rest of your time, but that was long ago. Now, we don’t need that much time, but we must control our body by staying healthy, never smoking and reducing our alcohol consumption.
- If any one of your fans is traveling to Korea, where can they see your shows?
Right now, most of our concerts are overseas, so if anyone is coming to Korea and we don’t have a show, we can give them a tour of our studio or they could watch us practice. Just send us a message on our Facebook profile.
- Breakdancing has spread all around the world. Why is Korea considered a hot spot for this new kind of dance?
The reasons why Korea is superior in terms of breakdancing is that Koreans train a lot and consider it a job, but many other people just take breakdancing as a hobby.
- What words of advice could you give to someone who wants to be a professional dancer?
First, if you want to practice on your own terms, that won’t do. You have to practice all the time, whenever you can. You have to work hard to reach a certain level. You can't say, "I'll train three times a week and be professional." It doesn't work that way. Also, if you really want to be a breakdancer, you can't hate anyone. Now, people love us, but when we first started a lot of people said, "What's breakdancing?" You're going to be a gangster, so you have to show a positive image about what you do, even if people negatively criticize you. You have to be respectful and be a role model so people will accept you and love what you do. For example, I was very well known five years ago and people loved me. I started to be arrogant and then I had an accident that broke my back. I couldn’t move. Then I knew the value of being humble. I said, "The first thing I'm going to do when I recover is to work hard and change my attitude," and here I am.
At the end of the interview, Lee advised Korea.net to not only love K-pop but to also to love and follow breakdancing.
It was really a wonderful show and the audience enjoyed it. It was really professional, and we hope to see it again!
Here are some videos from the show. We hope you enjoy it.
Here's a video from their first trip to Egypt. Enjoy!
wisdom117@korea.kr
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