Texas State calls itself home to many different kinds of clubs and student organizations, ranging from broad to obscure. But one club is separating itself from the crowd – KCC.
KCC or Korean Culture Club is a student org at Texas State, designed to give members a fun, well-rounded experience while educating students on South Korean culture, according to the KCC website.
Mariana Cardenas-Lopez, a junior at Texas State, can attest to this.
I sat down with Cardenas-Lopez this past week to discuss the interesting new things KCC is doing and what the future has in store.
“Each meeting is about a different topic. It can be about wedding culture in Korea, it can be about the history of Korea. It can be about cafes and nightlife,” Cardenas-Lopez says.
The meetings are all-encompassing but where KCC really shines is KCC Dance, the K-pop oriented student org that works jointly with the main club.
“Another aspect of KCC is the dance part. Anyone can join [KCC Dance]. It can be board group dances, girl group dances, solos, duets. Anything anyone wants – as long as it’s considered K-pop,” Cardenas-Lopez says.
Regardless of what kind of dance someone could choose, ultimately it is in preparation for the KCC Dance Showcase. This is a collection of every approved dance that is performed at the end of each semester, according to the KCC Dance website. In other words, this is a big deal. It’s a fun, vibrant night of dance with performers who have worked long and hard to make something special.
“Dance is a huge part of my life. I feel it’s a big passion and a really enjoyable hobby so being around people with similar interests to me is just a really good time,” Cardenas-Lopez says, “That and being able to challenge myself and put on good performances for other people.”
With around 25 to 30 dances in each showcase, KCC Dance is quite the popular student organization at Texas State. But what does the actual selection process for this sort of event look like?
“Once the dancers are registered, the groups will choose one day a week to practice. There’s a midway check and final check just to make sure the dances are looking clean and good for the showcase and to be filmed,” Cardena-Lopez says.
Showcase atmosphere is unlike other kinds of performances. For KCC, it’s a rapid-fire gauntlet of K-pop performances. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad time.
“There’s a lot of nervousness from the dancers themselves but in general, everyone loves the showcase,” Cardenas-Lopez says, “It’s the final event for KCC for the end of every semester, so it’s always the biggest part. Everyone works really hard to make sure it’s a good show from the people who work tech and audio to the dancers themselves especially.”
One nice thing about KCC Dance is that they film all of their performances, rehearsed and live, on their own dedicated YouTube Channel. Even if you happen to miss the showcase, like in my case, you can catch up with relative ease.
In addition to their YouTube channel, KCC Dance is heavily involved on social media, having a presence mainly on apps like TikTok and Instagram for promotion as well as edits on some of their dances.
All of this is to say that the future is bright for KCC.
KCC is one of only 5 accredited APIDA (Asian Pacific Islander Desi American) organizations at Texas State. Despite this, they are the second largest and most diverse, according to the KCC website. Through the grapevine, in addition, they are also growing at a staggering pace.
“Its getting bigger and bigger every year,” Cardenas-Lopez says, “from my freshman year up to this year, my junior year, it’s grown almost exponentially. I think that the growth is really healthy, as long as people enjoy Korean culture and even K-pop. It’s going to be a really successful org.”
So why should you care about this upstart student organization?
Because people like Mariana care about it. It’s a part of who she is and who every member of KCC is. It’s a valuable part of the Texas State community and it represents a culture that deserves to be represented at a multicultural place like Texas State.
KCC meets every first and third Friday of every month in Ingram Hall, with a new and interesting topic each and every meeting.
