Elemental Studios Community Blog

  K-pop, as both a music genre and dance style originated in South Korea during the early 1990s with its roots in "rap fusion" which became popularized by the very first K-pop group Seo Taiji and Boys in 1992.  This group modernized and experimented with the South Korean music scene and they became the leading force into creating a bigger space for K-pop in different musical aspects outside of the contemporary music style at the time. Seo Taiji and Boys' popularity with teenagers made the music industry focus on this age demographic. Lee Soo-man of SM Entertainment developed the 1st Korean idol system in the later 1990s, which made iconic K-pop groups like H.O.T and S.E.S, which were 2 of many groups out of the 1st generation of K-pop which ranges from the years 1990-2002.  The idol system in the many different K-pop companies is a structured "star factory" where aspiring artists known as trainees go through intense training in singing, rapping, danc...

  Hip-Hop Dance has developed and evolved from a variety of different street styles that we know today, and were created from the styles that came from the 1970s and became popular by dance crews in the United States. Some of the first films and shows that showcased hip-hop dance culture was the show "Soul Train" and the 1980s films "Breakin'", "Beat Street", and "Wild Style", which showcased these hip-hop crews and dance styles in their early development stages, which then, have hip-hop dance and culture more exposure in the mainstream media space.  When hip-hop was introduced to the commercial studio dance space, it was introduced as "new style", and a hip-hop-influenced style of jazz called "jazz funk". Highly trained dancers developed these different studio styles to create choreography from the hip-hop dance styles that were performed on the streets.  The commercialization of hip-hop expanded even more in the 1990s an...

  Hello Everyone, and welcome back to The Student Lens series. Today, I am here to chat with Jessie (they/them), a student who started going to Elemental Studios back in April of 2025 and has continued to grow and improve in their dance journey. They have shown that even if you leave dance for however long, you can go back and have even more drive and passion than you ever had.  Before we get into the interview, let's learn about Jessie, shall we? "Hello, my name is Jessie, or I also go by the name Moon, feel free to call me whatever you like!  I'm currently 21, I'm half-Mexican, half-Honduran, born in Phoenix, Arizona, but raised in Colorado! I don't have much of a background in dance. I only got into dancing because of K-pop. I have been a fan since 2016, and it has seriously helped me get through difficult times.  When I was going to high school, I had seen that the school I was going to had a K-pop club, so I joined right away, and that's where I was roped ...