TWICE’s Mina Recalls How Her Ballet Experience Helped And Hindered Her As A K-Pop Idol
TWICE‘s Mina is famous for being the queen of ballet in the world of K-Pop. Before becoming a trainee, she practiced ballet for 11 years. She showed off her talent several times over the years as early as 2016 in SIXTEEN, the survival program that made TWICE.
She also used her experience in ballet, with her clean rotations and overall gracefulness, to land first place in the rhythmic gymnastics competition at the 2017 Idol Star Athletic Champions (ISAC).
In an interview with Allure, Mina was asked to expound on her ballet background, particularly on the ways it has affected her life as a K-Pop idol.
You’ve done ballet for a long time. In ballet, the chest and the hands are important. Ballet and K-Pop choreography seem very different, but are there any aspects that influence each other?
— Allure
She revealed that in some ways, ballet and K-Pop dances are not all that different from one another. Because she paid close attention to every detail of her movements while growing up, she is now graceful in every style.
My fans often say that since I do ballet, I use even my fingertips well.
— Mina
At the same time, however, there are clear differences between the two. There are specific aspects about her current style that is not acceptable in ballet. For instance, she always used to need to have a straight posture while dancing, but now, she uses more chest movements.
At first, it was difficult. For example, hip hop and idol dance require a lot of chest movement, so it is the opposite of ballet.
— Mina
No matter what differences there are between the dance styles that she uses, it can’t be denied that Mina’s a great dancer!
Whether she’s doing cute movements…
…straight up hip hop…
…or ballet, she’s a pro! Her experience in the past has made her a versatile dancer now.
