If you’ve been up to date in Korean media, you would immediately recognize the name “Street Woman Fighter”. For those of you who don’t know yet, Street Woman Fighter is a dance survival program hosted by MNET (the same company that created Produce 101, Girl’s Planet, and Unpretty Rapstar– just to name a few). It revolves around 8 female dance crews fighting for the position of Korea’s best female K-dance crew and has gained so much traction since its airing that every participant has blown up on social media and gotten numerous brand deals and sponsorships- which will be significant a bit later.
The show features many genres of dance: popping, locking, hip hop, tutting, salsa, girl crush, dance hall, house, heel dance, and even voguing. To a non-dancer, these words mean nothing, but that is all the reason why this show has gained so much attention. Not only does the show educate viewers who have no dance background on the various styles, but it does so in a way that is compelling. There are numerous dance battles where participants face off 1-on-1 and show off their freestyle skills. As a viewer, you’re able to see and distinguish the various styles and moves that participants use, and with a combination of MNET’s typical editing skills (where they replay the same scene 10 times and show everyone’s reaction), legendary clips are made and leave you with goosebumps all over. Here’s a great example.
Another large reason as to why this show has blown up all over the Korean media is due to the amazing performances that these dance crews create for each challenge they are given. What’s even better is that the show gives you perspective into their process– what it’s like choreographing and cleaning, deciding on a concept, working with a producer to create music that fits, and working with each other in crews or even across crews. The show takes you through this process and leads you to a better understanding of how much work dancers put in to showcase the best possible performance. It’s due to these performances that many people on the media (specifically Instagram and TikTok) had begun to make covers of SWF choreographies. One of them, which you might have seen already, is Noze’s choreography to “Hey Mama”.
Noze’s choreography of “Hey Mama” itself has caused a storm throughout all of Korea. The contagious choreography is constantly in people’s social media feeds and countless people have done covers of it– even comedians, actors, K-pop idols, and entertainers. It is one of the many reasons as to why people have started watching the show if they weren’t already. If you live in Korea with any social media awareness, you would know the “Hey Mama” choreography. This is another reason as to why I believe this survival show has blown up all over the place– it inspires people, specifically people who have never danced, to try dancing for themselves and try the numerous choreographies and moves that the show displays. Personally, I also thought the choreography looked really fun, so I ended up performing it with KADA, KASA’s beginner friendly, super fun dance group (which I highly recommend). The experience definitely humbled me, as I realized there was so much more to dancing than trying to follow the choreography and formations, and this led me to a greater appreciation for all the decades of training and experience the dancers on SWF had.
As a result of SWF and its overwhelming positive feedback, the show has led to a greater appreciation of dancers. The eight crews featured on the show, prior to being a contestant, had all worked in the shadow of Korean pop culture. They were constantly in the back, choreographing and serving as backup dancers to K-Pop idols and were never recognized outside of the dancer community. However, the show has significantly changed this, as these crews are now being given spotlight throughout all of Korea and all over media. They are being featured on shows such as Knowing Brothers, Running Man, Sixth Sense, as well as being given performance opportunities by Studio Choom and MNET (they had a whole concert where they choreographed whatever they wanted with whatever concepts and had battles with each other). Another thing that I mentioned prior, was that each contestant was also given a lot of sponsorship opportunities, whether that’s through Instagram ads or commercial campaigns with huge brands like Nike, Vogue, Gucci, and Calvin Klein — just to name a few. These sponsorships not only give these dancers huge amounts of money, but they also give way to creative freedom.
Dancers work as backup dancers to K-Pop idols often because they choreograph the song or because they are hired by the company, and this allows them to continue dancing while making an income. However, now that they are given a larger amount of dispensable income, they are able to pursue opportunities that they want to, and not because they have to. For example, many of the members on SWF went on a trip overseas where they were able to hone their skills in different styles and participate in many battles with other amazing dancers outside of Korea. This allows them to experience different dance cultures and immerse themselves, consequently gaining a wider knowledge of dance.
I believe SWF is an amazing show considering the content of the show and the outcomes as well- although we don’t talk about all the non-existent drama MNET tries to create with their evil editing. Every dancer in the show brings a new style and perspective that leads the audience to a greater appreciation of dancing and the interactions between each of the contestants, as well as their personalities, really tie it all together. It’s a great show to watch, especially if you have no background in dance, and it is incredibly funny, emotional, and educational. This definitely tops all of the survival shows that I’ve watched in the past and I highly recommend it.
