So-called “dance tutoring” is becoming popular among North Korean teenagers, as slick performance videos of singers dancing in formation with dynamic choreography catch young people’s eyes and turn modern dance into a new field of private education.
“Demand has grown sharply among young people in Sinuiju to learn modern dance with fast paced moves,” a source in North Pyongan province told Daily NK on Tuesday. “Watching far more lively and flashy performances on television and recorded videos than before has spread learning modern dance like a fad.”
Dance tutoring is drawing demand in particular because it costs less than other forms of private education. “Compared with specialized skills like foreign languages or computers, private dance lessons cost roughly a third as much,” the source said. “It’s easy for instructors to attract students, and it’s affordable for the students too, so both sides come away satisfied.”
So many teenagers want to learn modern dance that small group lessons have increasingly begun to supplement one-on-one tutoring, according to the source.
Group culture in North Korea adds to the appeal
North Korea’s distinctive organizational culture is also feeding the trend. Because entertainment gatherings and art performances are held regularly at every workplace and organization, many people have come to believe that learning dance moves and a sense of rhythm will come in handy, which the source said is another reason dance tutoring has taken off.
“Wherever you go, there are plenty of entertainment gatherings and performances, so people figure there’s no harm in learning to dance early,” the source said. “Being a good dancer can make you stand out right away at school and later at work, so parents don’t put up much resistance to private dance lessons either.”
Some observers say authorities, who are on guard against the inflow of South Korean culture and enforce a strict crackdown on it, may actually welcome young people’s interest shifting toward “our style modern dance,” a North Korean reinterpretation of the form.
“Some people say that teaching our own style of modern dance would do more to keep young people’s thinking in line than simply cracking down across the board on copying South Korean style dance,” the source said. “Maybe that’s why schools and Youth League organizations don’t make much of an issue out of young people taking dance lessons or getting private tutoring.”
The trend is seen by some as a kind of management strategy, giving young people some room to learn a permitted, North Korean style of modern dance rather than suppressing their interests altogether and risking their turning away.
As dance establishes itself as a new field of private education for North Korean teenagers, attention is turning to how the country’s performing arts culture, long rooted in folk dance and rhythmic gymnastics, will evolve going forward.
Reporting from inside North Korea
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August 28, 2026 at 12:10AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)