When Groove Nation Dance Academy instructor Julio Fuentes choreographed a tribute to Korean pop, or K-pop as it’s often called, he never expected the performance to become such a sensation.
Yet a nearly 8-minute video of 46 Groove Nation dancers performing Fuentes’ K-pop number has gone viral, attracting more than 450,000 hits on YouTube as of Wednesday. The video can be viewed at http://bit.ly/ewgW90
“I really had no expectation of it blowing up like that,” said 26-year-old Fuentes of Vancouver. “I’m still in a little bit of disbelief but quite excited about it.”
Groove Nation dancers ages 3 to about 20 performed the K-pop tribute at Heritage High School on Dec. 11. Fuentes posted the video to Facebook and YouTube, and it was featured by K-pop sites such as http://www.allkpop.com.
“We kept watching the numbers (of views) grow overnight,” said 36-year-old Beau Sem of Vancouver, who owns Groove Nation with his wife, Rose.
Fuentes was introduced to K-pop by a friend living in South Korea in the fall of 2009.
“I really got into it,” he said.
The routine he choreographed for Groove Nation was a medley of seven popular Korean pop tunes. The video has been viewed by people all over the world, with the most hits coming from South Korea. In fact, Fuentes’ friend who lives there said he saw a clip of it on the news.
“So that was really cool,” Fuentes said.
People posting comments to the YouTube video have requested a follow-up, even suggesting songs for Fuentes to use. He said he hopes to choreograph more K-pop dances as his schedule allows.
“We were joking that we can’t disappoint our fans,” he said.
Camas football player cuts hair for charity
Justin Lebowsky, 17, has grown his hair out since seventh or eighth grade. It was always more about fashion than anything else for the senior — at least until a teammate approached the Camas High School football player about doing something meaningful with his hair.
At a practice in October, Odin Coe approached Lebowsky, an offensive guard, about donating his hair to the Locks of Love program. Lebowsky, who lives in Camas, was immediately taken with the idea. “I thought it would be a really cool idea, and it’d be a good way to do something charitable,” he said.
He also had a personal connection to the program’s aim, which is to provide wigs from donated hair to children who have lost their hair due to medical conditions.
Lebowsky’s grandmother died about two years ago from brain cancer that had followed a battle with breast cancer. Her memory weighed on Lebowsky’s mind.
“I was definitely thinking about how there’s someone like her who wasn’t really given the choice in the matter in terms of having hair or not, and someone out there would appreciate having my hair,” he said.
Lebowsky, who has kept his hair slightly longer than shoulder-length for several years, cut the hair for donation in mid-November. “It’s a good way to use something that would normally be thrown away,” he said.
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