About The Author

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Hello Everyone and welcome to the Elemental Studios blog! My name is Coral Barnes, I am the author and writer of this blog. I thought I would take this opportunity to introduce myself to you all, so I hope you enjoy my biography as well as some other fun posts that I will be including on the blog as well.


I am an Austin, Texas native that moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado on December 1st, 2022. I took ballet as a kid for a few years, doing it during my elementary school years, but eventually quit that to do tumbling gymnastics.



I got interested in dance again during the COVID-19 pandemic in Austin, and during this time, I met my close friend and dance mentor, Haley Sikes, who I had met at a K-pop Club night event who encouraged and motivated me to take hip-hop classes with her at Balance Dance Studios and ElectrikCity Dance Movement. My first hip-hop class was on March 15th, 2020, it was Intermediate/Advanced at the time and I mainly went for my friend Haley since it was her class at Balance Dance Studios. I remember being very overwhelmed by it as I had no idea what I was doing, but eventually as I kept going to her classes, I spread my wings to other hip-hop styles in Austin like breakdancing, K-pop, R&B, and many others.



I eventually got comfortable enough to try out for a dance team called New Genesis by my 2nd dance mentor and friend Daniel Broxton who really pushed and encouraged me to pursue my dance goals as well as grow in my dance journey which I was on the training team for their 5th season. I was also a part of KpopCity, a K-pop dance team in the Austin area. I was also inspired by my favorite K-pop group Verivery to dance. 


I took breakdancing classes in Austin and when I started I was very nervous just because it was a very difficult and intimidating by the idea of this style, but my breaking mentor Rylei Brown really taught me a lot of great foundations and moves that I can still do to this day. I really enjoyed taking this class because it really opened my eyes how unique and fun dance really is.


Once I moved to Colorado and found the K-pop community, I met a friend who introduced me to my close friend and one of my favorite teachers Nicki D'Portillo who was a teacher who taught in the Denver area. Even though it was a long drive, I took my first class with her on January 12th, 2023 and it was to learn the dance break to "Halazia" by ATEEZ which was honestly one of my biggest challenges when learning K-pop dances but it is still one of my favorite memories and experiences with her to this day. Nicki always has made me feel like I am improving, growing, and challenges me to be better, so I will always appreciate her.


When I first came to Elemental Studios, they were at a small location and I had tried the studio out to follow Nicki for her classes there originally. I was craving a larger dance community that I had similar to the one back in Austin. I was honestly anxious about coming to a new place because I have social anxiety around new places and people, but once I got comfortable, I got more interested in the other classes that were offered. The staff and other dancers in the class were very friendly and welcoming to me which gave me a sigh of relief.


One of my first dance classes outside of Nicki's K-pop Classes was Jake's Beginner Femme Funk Class and the song was "Collide" by Shea Coulee, which at the time was on a Thursday at 5:15pm. While going to this class, I had felt like I had grown in more ways than one, I slowly developed more confidence, and felt like I could truly be myself in class. Jake always encourages you and motivates you to be a better dancer, gives you support and guidance through your journey, and challenges you with the new choreo he comes out with each week.


I have tried out K-pop, Femme Funk, Heels, Brazilian Funk, Hip-Hop, Reggaeton, Latin Fusion, Freestyle, Contemporary, and Jazz. I hope to continue to explore more myself.


For this blog, I hope that I can inspire you look into all the amazing classes that are offered at Elemental Studios as well as the many diverse dance cultures. I really hope it gives you a chance to explore and try new classes that you haven't tried yet, and advocate for yourself to find confidence in doing things that scare you just like I did.


Fun Facts about Me


  • I have listened to K-pop since 2018, but before that I was listening to metal, rock, a few EDM artists, etc.

  • I currently listen to Thai Pop, P-pop, J-pop, and some American artists in my daily life.

  • I am foreign boy love drama fan (BL Fan) and do a podcast with my best friend in Las Vegas called “What the Fangirl? K-pop and BL” on Spotify and we do album reviews, hot takes, spotlighting underrated artists in the Korean music industry, and talking about BL dramas like our favorite parts, etc.

  • The first breakdancing freezes that I mastered were a shoulder freeze and a headstand.

  • I have interviewed 5 Korean artists and 1 Japanese artist on my former K-pop blog Kpopisforeveryone, one of the artists Babylon, who I met in person at his concert in the Denver area.

  • Some of my favorite dancers are Babyzoo aka Junhui Yeon, Danyel Moulton, Jason Rhodes, Haley Sikes, Daniel Broxton, KazumaBoy, Taryn Cheng, etc.

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