(left to right) Kara Kiratikosolrak, Michelle Guan, Lulu Wu, Tori Ampiaw, Michelle Bohman, Anya Barrera (bottom left) and Kailey Hester (bottom right) pose after their performance at the Chinese American Student Association, Hong Kong Student Association and Chinese Students and Scholars Society’s “Shanghai Night” event on Oct. 7. Credit: Courtesy of Cindy Gu

Kailey Hester was a high school junior and an avid dancer when she first encountered Korean pop music, more commonly known as K-pop. She was intrigued by K-pop’s maximalist blending of genres and sounds, especially as a Chinese American adoptee and one of the few Asian people in her school’s community.

When Hester arrived at Ohio State in 2019, she said her passion for K-pop and dance led her to audition for the Queen of Aces, also known as QoA. Hester said although there are other K-pop dance groups on campus — J2K, Top Pride of Korea and NEX+ CREW — QoA is Ohio State’s premier all-girls K-pop dance cover group and said the ensemble of nine is a testament to how unifying K-pop can be.

“We just really like to have people come in and just have a place where they can be part of a team,” Hester, a fourth-year in strategic communication, said.

Hester said joining QoA permitted her to nurture the love for K-pop she developed during high school.

“I had no Asian representation or culture around me,” Hester said. “So, when I heard about K-pop and started getting into it, it was a whole new world.”

Hester said QoA was established by Ohio State’s Korean Student Association in 2014 with the intention to solely dance at the Korean Student Association’s annual Korean Culture Show. QoA rapidly grew in popularity and soon branched out to perform at additional events, valuing friendship and teamwork she said.

“We come to practice, and we enjoy each other’s presence,” Hester said.

Hester said QoA replicates the choreographies of K-pop artists and learns a handful of studio dances, memorizing up to 15 distinct routines throughout the year. QoA recently wrapped up its fall semester performances in early October, having collaborated with a variety of on-campus Asian organizations, she said.

Kara Kiratikosolrak, a second-year in chemical engineering and QoA member, said she moved to the U.S. from Thailand at 14 years old and appreciates the group because of its tight-knit nature.

“I really love my group members, and they’re like another family,” Kiratikosolrak said. “That’s something that I’ve been looking for since high school.”

Michelle Bohman, a second-year in industrial and systems engineering and QoA member, said she was once surrounded by K-pop and Korean culture, as she lived in South Korea until she was 6 years old, so QoA helps her connect to her roots.

“I actually grew up dancing in my bathroom,” Bohman said. “And when I came to campus, I was like, ‘You know what? I might as well try auditioning for a group and make some friends in that dancing community.’”

Hester said QoA is busy preparing for the 2023 Korean Culture Show, slated to be held in February, and QoA will perform the ambitious series of routines it’s presently learning.

Hester, Kiratikosolrak and Bohman said they are eagerly awaiting the show, as watching high-profile K-pop groups BTS and BLACKPINK perform at the 2022 Grammy Music Awards and 2022 MTV Video Music Awards has left them in joyful anticipation.

Bohman said seeing K-pop acts succeed in the U.S. mainstream is a monumental source of pride for herself, QoA and all K-pop fans.

“Growing up, a lot of people didn’t know anything about Korea other than North Korea, and it was so frustrating,” Bohman said. “But as I got older and K-pop became more popular and K-dramas became more popular and just Korean culture in general, it was such a relieving moment for me.”

More information about QoA can be found on its Instagram page.