Edmonton K-pop dancers master the moves of Korean music videos

United by their love of Korean pop music, or K-pop to those in the know, agroup of Edmonton dancers is bringing the dance moves of South Korean pop starlets to Alberta's capital city.

Calling themselves Apricity, the dance team includes students from NAIT, MacEwan University, theUniversity of Alberta, and even one still in high school.

Essentially, whatApricitydoes is dance covers. Like a singer paying tribute to anotherby covering theirsong, Apricity memorizes their favouritestars' choreography, and then recreates it.

"We like our idols very much. We idolize them, so we want to be just like them," dancerCatherine Sampaga said."A lot ofK-popfans have that same dream, and I think that drives us to want to dance like them or sing like them."

The dancers also say getting together regularly to learn the choreography is a great way for them to relax and unwind after class, and also gives the friends a chance to catch up outside of school.

Edmonton dancers hope to catch the eye of their pop heroes

But for a group with no formal training, pulling off the precise and synchronizeddance routines fromthevideos can be a challenge.

"K-pop is very famous for its dancing, co-dancing and singing at the same time, so it's very active and moving a lot," dancemember JonEscoderosaid.

The group is up to the challenge, though, and regularly posts their own dance videos online for others to check out.

The Apricity dancers are currently working on their latest dance, which they hope to enter into an online contest organized by1theK, an organization dedicated to the promotion of K-pop and its stars.

If they win, their video may even be watched by the K-popstars they idolize, a thought that thrills Sampaga.

"We don't exactly know what the prize is, but I don't think that is what is important to us," she said."The factthat they chose us that would mean alot for us."