What is 'Lazy Dancing' in KPop and how does it affect idols and their reputation?

BLACKPINK's Jisoo and ITZY's Lia were (and still sometimes are) the two most controversial idols labelled as 'lazy dancers'. But are they really?

By Afreen Khan

Published on Mar 30, 2021 | 11:19 PM IST | 20.6M

ITZY's Lia and BLACKPINK's Jennie: always being labelled as "lazy dancers"

What is 'Lazy Dancing' in KPop and how does it affect idols and their reputation?

K-Pop has its stars and great achievements, no doubts. But not everything in the South Korean music industry is as good and brightly lit as the skies in the BTS universe. It has its own (fair) share of negatives - from obsessive, toxic fan culture, extreme dieting, to body shaming, stalking and what not. It has a bigger, darker side to it that more often than not, fans do choose to either ignore or the better news ends up overpowering them.

The earth we inhabit, is the same. But the people, not really. Same is the case with the K-Pop industry - not every group is as clean or as good or scandal-free as BTS (yet). Even the path breaking septet has seen its share of ridiculous controversies. But the fact that all eyes are on the K-Pop idols every single minute they're out in public, sure is a tad bit scary. Nothing goes unnoticed in the fans' eyes. Especially the idols' stage presence. 'Lazy dancing' is basically when an idol - for some or the other reason - isn't dancing as powerfully as they should, or just look expressionless and bored. Because of the extremely rampant fan culture in South Korea (and now even overseas) such "lazy dancers" aren't easily forgiven.

Everyone who gets into K-Pop knows how torturous the trainee time can be for the idols. Years and years of training as a singer and a dancer, perfecting their skills while doing 8-9 hours of practice, messed up sleep schedule and then if you're strong enough to endure all - finally look up to the stage light and debut. But it's not like it stops at that. Even on an average, thanks to the immensely popular and detailed choreographies that K-Pop is known for, idols take weeks and months to perfect it, putting the majority of hours in the day into practice. And let me put this out there lest we forget - we only see the final product. Not the times they fell, mis-stepped, were bogged down by their own self esteem, tried and tried till their body hurt. Remember that one I-Land episode where one group was given a choreography where they had to build a formation for one member to jump in the front at the right beat? And how when Rain and another judge came over to oversee the practice, the group said that it was dangerous and hence, we kept it for the last? That's what we, fans, forget many times.

Since quite a few years, BLACKPINK's Jennie has been labelled as a "lazy dancer" with multiple fancam videos of hers plastered across YouTube and Instagram with badly photoshopped thumbnails. Now, people have their own views, their own opinions but, in my honest opinion, these views should at least be neutral or polite. Especially when they do not know the backstory. In August 2020, fans finally understood why Jennie was "lazy dancing" - due to a serious ankle injury. She's had ankle injuries in the past during debut, and even during one of their concerts where she accidentally fell off the stairs, only to not be able to perform on the next day and sit in the corner. Wearing tall heels, short dresses (that might make some uncomfortable) and keeping on moving and dancing WHILE having an ankle injury is no easy task. But she still woke up, dressed up, put on her game face and tried her best for BLINKs - which in my opinion, matters more. She's just a 20-something adult, after all. Just like you and me.

Another "controversy" is regarding ITZY's Lia. Despite the fact that many people already know that Lia doesn't come from a dance background (another reason why people need to cut her some slack), her moves have been not-so-detailed as the rest of the members and it irks some people. Her "lazy dancer" label was forgotten, till the group's appearance on Idol Radio, with their then latest (and a personal favourite) bop, WANNABE. Fans pointed out certain parts of the choreos to target her with distasteful hate comments callling her "a slug" and that she's "slacking off". It had the internet divided in half as some praised her for trying her best while still being a rookie and not from the dancing background, while some hurled comments and were of the opinion that she needs to do better for the team because after all, that's what K-Pop stars are supposed to do, right? Dance perfectly and sing perfectly.

Now, while I do think the pressure comes the moment someone decides to pursue being a K-Pop idol, but I also feel that we, as individuals and collectively, have much more power when it comes to making or breaking these idols. We need to be more empathetic. More compassionate. We can't talk about how the Korean idol culture is bad while still being a part of it. That's the only way we can at least try to lessen the toxicity in the industry.