Learning Latin Dance from Instructor Kim Young-deok to Shake Off the COVID Blue~~~

Yongsan-gu to Conduct Real-Time Streaming via Naver Band...Pilot Operation Until Year-End, Expansion Next Year

Kim Young-deok, a sports dance instructor at Cheongpa-dong Community Center, live-streamed the class on a smartphone on the 8th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] “Latin dance looks cool when you do hip moves. Still, it’s better to hold back a bit when you’re just starting. Your posture can get messed up,”

On the 8th, the Cheongpa-dong Community Center’s autonomous hall came alive after a long time. Youngdeok Kim (51), a sports dance instructor, was live-streaming the class on his smartphone.

Instructor Kim demonstrated skilled postures and pointed out key points to the students one by one. Comments from students such as “It’s new seeing it on screen” and “Teacher, you’re cool” kept appearing on the smartphone window.

Yongsan-gu (Mayor Seongchang Hyun) is gaining residents’ positive responses by operating non-face-to-face classes at the community centers.

The programs offered include Cheongpa-dong aerobics and sports dance, Yongsan 2-ga-dong yoga class, Itaewon 1-dong women’s singing class, and Bogwang-dong dance aerobics, totaling five. These were selected after a prior demand survey to pick desired courses.

All classes are conducted online. For those who pay a monthly tuition fee ranging from 15,000 to 22,000 KRW, a Naver Band group is created to provide real-time streaming services.

To ensure smooth class operation, the district distributed 1 to 2 sets of equipment such as tripods, microphones, and auxiliary batteries to each neighborhood.

Youngdeok Kim, sports dance instructor at Cheongpa-dong, said, “Due to COVID-19, we couldn’t hold classes for over half a year. I will devote my passion to online classes so that students can take care of their health during the COVID era.”

Resident Sujeom Kim (female, 70) from Cheongpa-dong said, “I was depressed for a while because I couldn’t enjoy sports dance, which I always loved. I’m glad I can take classes like this at home.”

The district expects that operating online classes will somewhat alleviate the difficulties faced by instructors. Since community centers in Seoul were closed due to COVID-19, instructors had no income at all.

A district official said, “Through online classes, we can pay instructors at community centers. We will continuously expand classes so that both instructors and students can benefit.”

The district plans to pilot the program until the end of the year, gather residents’ feedback, and significantly expand online classes next year.

As of October, there are about 160 programs at 16 community centers. They are popular among residents for being high quality and affordable. However, since February, the district has kept community centers closed for COVID-19 prevention.

Seongchang Hyun, Mayor of Yongsan-gu, said, “As the COVID-19 situation prolongs, more residents are complaining of depression and frustration. We will resume community center operations in a non-face-to-face format and actively support residents’ cultural, sports, and hobby activities.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.