The Aberystwyth KPOP Society is Aberystwyth University’s society for all things K-pop-related. In December, I attended one of their performances at Artsfest, hosted at Aberystwyth SU. There I interviewed three Society members - Amy, Rhianwen and Sean. Amy is the Society’s President, while Rhianwen is its Secretary and Wellbeing officer. Amy describes the society as an ‘environment to find other people with the same interests’, with an obvious focus on interests related to K-pop music and culture. Amy also emphasised her belief in the importance of ‘creating an inclusive environment’.
Photograph from the @aberkpopsoc Instagram account
The Society runs a variety of events including dance classes, weekly chill sessions, sober socials including game and film nights, alcoholic socials, charity events and performances. The performances also double as charity events, such as their appearance at the Festival of the Arts at the SU in November 2023. They also run a competition team that allows dancers who feel confident to showcase their abilities at competitions against K-pop societies of other universities. This year, the Society will attend the Kings of K-pop competition, hosted by Kings College London, and will compete against Bangor University in the annual Varsity competition. Amy and Rhianwen both rank these competitions among their favourite moments during their time with the society. Amy fondly remembers the ‘camaraderie’ between Societies from different universities at her first competition, while Rhianwen recalls peers at competitions being ‘so supportive’.
Following Artsfest, the mood in the Society is celebratory, with committee members describing the event as ‘really successful’ and a ‘good environment’. Sean says that he is ‘much more confident in front of people’ following his performance at the event, describing the jump from practice to performance as ‘encouraging’.
Asked about the Society’s direction for the current academic year, Amy discussed ‘being more inclusive to non-dancers’ as well as growing the Society’s social element, with ‘a lot more emphasis on running drinking and non-drinking socials’. Such initiatives may already be paying off; Sean, who is in his first full year as a member of the Society, says that it has been ‘quite easy to get involved’, and has found that members ‘engage you’ and ‘probably aren’t as scary as you think!’
The Society isn’t just for die-hard fans, either. Rhianwen states: ‘I was quite a big fan, but I hadn’t really done any dancing. To have somewhere to do it with other people was definitely a big thing and I’m glad I did.’ Meanwhile, Amy says: ‘You can turn up knowing literally nothing about K-pop - I knew very little about K-pop when I joined, and now I’m the President!’ In short, she recommends the society to ‘anyone who likes K-pop’.
Photograph from the @aberkpopsoc Instagram account