Abu Dhabi just got its first official K-pop Academy and it’s all about girl power
If your Spotify Wrapped looks like a BTS playlist and you’ve been secretly rehearsing NewJeans choreo in your bedroom, here’s your moment. The Korean Cultural Center and South Korea’s legendary Dong-Ah Institute of Media and Arts (DIMA) are bringing a slice of Seoul’s pop scene to Dee Studio in Abu Dhabi with the launch of the very first K-pop Academy in the capital.
DIMA have trained some of K-pop’s biggest names, including Sung Hanbin from ZEROBASEONE, Hoshi from SEVENTEEN, and solo artist Kwon Eunbi. For this workshop, they’re sending their professors and student artists to lead the sessions.
The workshop offers a rare chance to dive deep into K-pop and is set to play a key role in growing K-culture across the Middle East. While this is a pilot programme, both KCC and DIMA see it as a first step in a longer journey. The bigger goal is to build long-term cultural and educational partnerships between DIMA and local institutions in the region.
Lee Yong-hee, the Korean Embassy’s cultural attaché, who’s responsible for promoting Korean culture in the UAE, said this was the first professional K-pop education programme in Abu Dhabi.
“It’s a valuable opportunity for participants to learn directly from Korea’s top instructors and experience the energy of K-POP. We hope this partnership with DIMA paves the way for sustained cultural exchange and the introduction of Korea’s most cutting-edge K-POP content in the region,” Yong-hee said.
Echoing that sentiment, Professor Yu Mi-ran, Dean of International and Admissions Affairs at DIMA, said the capital is a key cultural hub for expanding K-culture in new and creative directions.
“With our hands-on curriculum and proven track record in training global K-POP professionals, we hope to inspire and connect cultures through education. We envision this workshop as the starting point of a new K-POP education model linking Korea and the Arab world,” Mi-ran said.
What to expect
- Dance and vocal training from actual K-pop pros
- Female-only workshops, with separate sessions for youth, adults and kids (ages 14+)
- Tracks you know and love, including BTS’s “I NEED YOU”, BLACKPINK’s “JUMP”, and NewJeans’s “Super Shy”
- Special features, like a video production component for the kids’ session to give them a taste of life behind the camera
Location: Dee Studio, Abu Dhabi
Programme:
August 20 (Wednesday) – Youth Workshop – K-pop Dance Class (13:00 to 15:00) / Vocal (15:00 to 16:30)
August 21 (Thursday) – Adult Workshop – K-pop Dance Class (13:00 to 15:00) / Vocal (15:00 to 16:30)
August 22 (Friday) – Kids Workshop – K-pop Dance video recording (13:00 to 15:00) / Kpop Dance (15:00 to 16:30)
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