‘National Dancer’ Jeon Ji-ye “I want to be the protagonist of the first historic Olympic medal”

The 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games and the 2024 Paris Olympics are expected to have exciting dance winds. This is because surfing, skateboarding, and sports climbing made their debut as new events at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and ‘breaking’, a powerful dance show, was also adopted as an official event for the first time at the Paris Olympics. One gold medal is at stake for each of the men’s and women’s divisions, but in Korea’s women’s division, Jeon Ji-ye (24) is eager to win the first Olympic medal in history.

Jeon Ji-ye, who we met on the 19th at the practice room in Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province, said, “I am just leaving the Jincheon National Training Center (Chungbuk). On the 24th of next month, she completed her strength training program in preparation for her World Series in Kitakyushu, Japan. It wasn’t easy for her,” she said. When asked, ‘She’s right after being discharged, doesn’t she need a break?’ she replied, “I feel more comfortable in the practice room.”

It was her first national team selection (Breaking K), and in 2021 she placed second in the women’s division with the Taegeuk mark. Jeon Ji-ye, who is also the youngest member of the national team, said, “Last year was the year I lived the hardest with the mindset of ‘I have to be number one’.” .

Compared to when he just liked dancing, he said that wearing the Taegeuk mark as a national representative has changed his mindset and the eyes of those around him. Jeon Ji-ye said, “Because she represents the country and has her first Asian Games and Olympics ahead of her, her sense of responsibility has increased dramatically”, and she confessed the considerable weight of being a national representative. She continued, “My parents used to say, ‘Enjoy it. You said, ‘If it’s not fun, you can stop,’ but she secretly expects good results these days,” she laughed. 토토사이트

Her first encounter with Breaking was surprisingly not fateful. When she was in her first year of middle school, she took up figure skating, but she came to it too late, so she hit her limits and quit after two years. Afterwards, she first learned breaking at a dance academy, but this time she had a problem with ‘strangeness’. Jeon Ji-ye said, “It was the first time I did ‘Cyper (dancing alone while surrounded by people), but it was difficult for her to bear that many eyes. She didn’t seem right for me,” she said, shaking her head. But, she says, the Breaking Master spotted his talent at a glance and steadily recommended him. He said, “He looked at my breaking motion and taught me one by one without feeling burdened. Little by little he gained confidence and permeated his breaking,” he recalled.

Each dancer has their own nickname, and Jeon Ji-ye’s is ‘Freshbella’. She is said to have been built by her master with the meaning of ‘showing a fresh and beautiful dance’. Even in general competitions, nicknames are used more than names, so ‘Frecibella’ is practically the same as Jeon Ji-ye.

The individuality and creativity of the dancers became more important as skill points and difficulty levels were not fixed. So you need your own ‘signature motion’. All the dancers, including the judges, know each other’s signature moves. Conversely, copying someone else’s work is a major deduction factor. However, it is an exception to imitate the opponent’s signature movements and provoke ‘I can do this much’. Jeon Ji-ye introduced the move of grabbing a leg with one arm, transforming the basic ‘air freeze’ as her own signature move. “Just look at my back and they recognize me, ‘That’s Fresh Bella,'” she explains.

In addition, she has to show various movements. Jeon Ji-ye said, “You shouldn’t repeat the same movements during battle. She has to constantly think about what move to do next, even when she is resting in battle preparing for the next round,” she said. The main source of such Jeon Ji-ye’s inspiration is ‘Old School’, her early hip-hop. “She thinks about the origins of motion and pursues motion in depth,” she says. She also struggles to create her own angles and lines in basic movements,” she said.

Since the International Olympic Committee (IOC) adopted breaking as an official event for the Paris Olympics in December 2020, changes have been detected in Korea as well. Starting this year, elementary and secondary schools in Seoul will be able to learn breaking as part of after-school learning. Jeon Ji-ye welcomed, saying, “Japan has a well-established system for discovering and nurturing players from a young age,” and added, “The foundation for broadening the base has been laid.”

The goal is, of course, to win a historic first medal at the Paris Olympics. I got a ticket to participate in the Hangzhou Asian Games, but in order to participate in the Paris Olympics, I have to steadily accumulate ranking points in 4-5 international competitions to be held this year. Once you win the Asian Games or the World Championships, you go straight to the Olympics. Otherwise, the number of cases becomes complicated, such as having to rank in the top 16 in the ‘Olympic Qualifying’ with ranking points.

The United States, which is regarded as the ‘Suzerain’, is also a strong country, but recently, Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, and China are super strong. In particular, at last year’s World Championships, Japan swept the first and third places in the women’s division. In the men’s division, the United States, Canada and the Netherlands are strong. Jeon Ji-ye said, “I want to build up my skills step by step in international competitions this year and win medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games and even the Olympics.” In addition, I will become a dancer who can be respected by her juniors.”