Dance
Learn about the life-changing things that shaped Dassy’s dance career
Dassy is one of the hypest dancers and poppers around today. Get to know her as she describes the cornerstones of her successful career in her own words right here.
Take a look Dassy’s schedule in 2020 and you’ll find she has bookings all over the world. From gigs and workshops to panels and commercials, the South Korean dancer might be in-demand and blazing the scene, but her success came off the back of two decades worth of hard work.
Fearlessly driven, Dassy got into street dance from an early age in South Korea and began battling to earn a spot when the scene was at peak. Constantly elevating herself, she mastered popping, then got to work expanding her skillset to include locking, hip-hop and house.
Levelling up once more, she made the jump to New York to follow her dreams then soon found herself in Los Angeles on TV dance contest So You Think You Can Dance all before clocking up 40 million views with her Femme Fatale trio.
We caught up with Dassy to learn about the top moments that defined her dance journey, and to find out how she's continuing to push her creative flex and carve out her name worldwide. She describes her dance journey in her own words right here.
Stepping up South Korea's scene
"I started dancing nearly two decades ago, when the street dance scene in South Korea was at its peak. My teachers were all the crazy dope Korean dancers. I was learning to lock, popping, hip-hop and house. Korean instructors are very focused on each individual style. If you want to learn to lock then, 'You’re doing locking,' and if you want to learn to pop then, 'You’re doing popping.'
"When it comes to the students, South Korean dancers love to break down all the small elements so they understand each move in their way. Whether it’s how to do isolations or how to do the robot, they break it down and are crazy about learning. Dancers are dying to take a class every day, and the classes are always packed. Most people only master one genre, but I was so passionate that I was taking every class that was offered."
Coming to America
“When I came to New York, I couldn’t work as a dancer because I didn’t have a visa. I didn’t have money, I didn’t speak any English and I didn’t have any friends. I remember there was a time where I could only afford to eat a slice of pizza a day. I was also supporting my family in Korea. Eventually, I got a lawyer, and finally got my artist visa. I moved to LA and my dance career started.“
Dassy at the Neon Museum
© Red Is Dancing
Landing a spot on So You Think You Can Dance
"I’ve always had pressure. I grew up in South Korea with a single mom who didn’t have enough money. If I wanted to take a class, I had to audition and prove I was worth it, to train with their crew and learn for free. I always had this pressure like, 'Am I doing the right thing? Do I have what it takes to make it?' But because I was so ambitious, I just didn’t give up. I didn’t even think about a plan B. I just thought, 'I have to be successful I have to do it.' Just because I got an artist visa and I could work legally, that didn't mean that I was going to book the job.
"I had to keep auditioning and battling. I made it on to So You Think You Can Dance and ever since then my career has been going up and up. It was very challenging for me because I was used to street dance where I was moving freely. On television, you have to think of moving in a way that the cameras can follow. It taught me so much and is still one of the most amazing things I did in my career."
Dassy knows how to move on stage or in front of the camera
© Wilhelm Westergren/Red Bull Content Pool
Comparing LA to South Korea
"When I moved to LA, the street dance was way smaller than in Korea. The scene that I saw in America wasn’t a lot of people trying to learn popping, locking, house or the roots of street dance but the instant, straight-up choreography. In America, there’s a freestyle and party scene where people aren’t eager to learn the skills and foundations, they just want to dance. It was the total opposite of the studio scene I was used to, but that wasn't a bad thing. Both perspectives have amazing strengths and methods to perfecting your craft and taking it to the next level. By being in LA and adapting as well as fusing the American style with my own, my dancing only became that much better and more dynamic."
Dassy at the Red Bull BC One Camp Houston in 2018
© Maria Jose Govea/Red Bull Content Pool
Becoming a member of Femme Fatale
"I knew popper Marie Poppins in New York but we weren’t close. When I moved to LA, she asked me to come to Sweden to do a showcase with her as part of Femme Fatale for a Swedish qualifier. We ended up entering Dance Delight and we won. All of a sudden we had 40 million views on Facebook. We weren’t trying to make a crew together but it came out so good we wanted to keep going. It wasn't long after that we were performing at Red Bull BC One Zurich as well as getting booked to dance monthly across the globe."
5 min
Femme Fatale
Watch popping trio Femme Fatale's performance during the Red Bull BC One World Final Zurich 2018.
How she maximised creativity
"As a professional dancer, there’s a difficulty to flip between being in a creative, artistic mode and competitive mode. That’s definitely a challenge for me.
"I was doing a lot of TV, commercials and choreographing before, so I was very out of battling at the time. Even though right now with Red Bull I've crossed over to a more competitive side of my dance, I still want to be able to do both and continue to flex my creative side.
"I get my creativity from watching a show, judging, going to eat food – everywhere. When I see ice melting, I get ideas from that. So what's next? I want to keep healthy and take care of myself so I can dance as long as possible. I want to inspire people to love and respect the style I’m doing, which is popping, and share my knowledge with them not only as a dancer, a competitor and as a role model, but also as an artist."