Students are hooked on 'Gangnam Style' dance, create own versions
We all have heard and seen it, but do we really know what it means? What is Gangnam Style?
Gangnam is a city in Korea where money and fame is popular and a place where all Koreans aspire to be. In Psy’s new song "Gangnam Style," he describes the Gangnam Style “sexy lady” he is looking for. While Psy’s message is clear to Koreans, Americans have made their own connections to this hot new track.
Throughout the week, there is an on campus Zumba class taught by Caro junior and instructor Andrea LaJoie. While this class has been taught since the start of school, there was a new dance added to the class: Gangnam Style.
“I always try to teach new, popular and fun songs. One student actually requested the song, and I thought it was a great idea,” LaJoie said. “The dance covers all the main parts, but I added in my own twist to it. Everyone seems to love the dance.”
This class has provided students with the opportunity to learn the dance.
Lapeer freshman Jessica Cunningham attends Zumba routinely and was taught this dance.
“I first heard the song in Zumba where I first learned the actual dance,” Cunningham said. “It is now my favorite song that we dance to in Zumba and I look forward to it every week.”
Saline freshman Melissa Stevens was one of many students that have viewed the dance and heard the song.
“I first heard the song at a friend's house, and thought it sounded weird at first,” Stevens said. “But then when I was actually able to listen to it and watch the video, I couldn’t stop laughing. My friends and I tried to learn the dance — it was quite a scene, to say the least.”
This past weekend, the music video became the most viewed YouTube video of all-time, standing at a total 841,707, 717 hits that keep increasing. As the new song is being heard by just about everyone, it seems as if not only the song is trending but more so the dance.
While the girls are getting their fair share of Gangnam into their weekly schedules, Saginaw seniors Ben Schuller and Chris Sowatsky had their own way to express the new style with a college-style parody.
“I first saw the Gangnam Style video on the scoreboard at one of the football games. I first thought it was ridiculous, then I looked it up later and found out it was this international hit, and I couldn't get it out of my head. I needed to make my own version,” Schuller said. “I made the video with my roommate Chris Sowatsky. We thought it would be fun to put a college spin on it, so we did just that.”
Schuller added the video to YouTube as well receiving over 100,000 hits, while it isn’t as much as Psy’s, he is still proud with the outcome.
“It was supposed to be just for fun with a few friends but after I posted about it on Facebook, a ton of people wanted in on it. We had over 50 people that ended up helping out in someway, a lot of them showing up for the big finale dance scene,” Schuller said. “Once we posted the final video, I was amazed at how fast it spread. It reached 100,000 views a week ago and I'm still in shock.”
