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As if making it in the film business isn’t hard enough, try making it in another country. This year, we’ve selected a few greats for overcoming the language barrier (or at least mastering the accent) and becoming well-known in both their native country and in America.

In his U.S. debut, Jang Dong Gun stars in Relativity Media's The Warrior's Way.

Jang Dong Gun started out as a South Korean actor and musician. Jang made his first debut in the Korean drama, Our Heaven. From there, he won multiple Blue Dragon Awards (Korea’s Oscars) as an actor in Korean films. In 2005, he broke into Chinese cinema in the movie Wu Ji (The Promise), starring Cecilia Cheung. Now in 2010, Jang made his debut in the American film industry with the recent release of The Warrior’s Way. Jang has managed to make his name known not just in Korea, but all over Asia and now the States. We’ll have to wait and see if he’ll become a household name in the States like predecessors Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Ken Watanabe.

The Wonder Girls.

Wonder Girls are a South Korean girl band group.  They debuted in 2007 with their hit song “Tell Me” in Korea. They entered into the American market in 2009 with the single “Nobody.”  “Nobody” was the first song by a Korean group to have entered the Billboard Hot 100. After a successful run opening for the Jonas Brothers on the Jonas Brothers World Tour 2009, the Wonder Girls went on a world tour of their own in 2010, hitting more than two dozen cities in the U.S. and Canada. They also released the EP/single “2 Different Tears,” with a video starring Korean American comedian Bobby Lee. MTV Korea premiered a reality show that introduced the Wonder Girl’s everyday life in the United States, and on October 18th, the Wonder Girls’ management company JYP announced that the Wonder Girls were shooting a television series about five talented Asian pop stars crossing over to the United States that would be broadcast in the States.

Jay Chou, right, plays Kato in The Green Hornet.

Where do we even start with Jay Chou?  Not only is he a musician, but he is also a singer, film producer, actor, and director.  Oh and by the way, he’s won awards for these things too. In Taiwan, he is most known for composing all of his own songs, as well as for other artists. In 2005, Chou decided to break into the acting field in the movie Initial D, in the hope of expanding his exposure to Asian countries beyong Taiwan and China. Now that he had all that exposure, Chou went in full speed ahead and is about to make his American film debut in the highly anticipated film The Green Hornet. Chou stars as Kato, the Hornet’s partner, a role previously played by Bruce Lee (perhaps the greatest crossover of all time).

Emmy Award winning actress Archie Panjabi.

Archana “Archie” Panjabi is a British Indian actress who was first recognized in the United States in the film Bend It Like Beckham. In 2007, she appeared in the movie A Mighty Heart with Angelina Jolie, based on the book by Mariane Pearl. But 2010 was Panjabi’s breakout year, with her Primetime Emmy win for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role of Kalinda Sharma on the CBS critically acclaimed television series The Good Wife.

Korean singing sensation BoA.

Last but not least, BoA. If you don’t know who she is, listen up. BoA stands for Beat of Angel and is basically the Korean Britney Spears in entertainment. She has gone above and beyond in languages. She not only knows her native tongue, but she is also conversational in Japanese and English. Think those languages are hard to learn? Try learning Chinese. Oh wait, BoA did that too. BoA also recorded songs in Mandarin Chinese. In 2008, SM Entertainment announced her debut in America with the single “Eat You Up.”  There was also a remix of “Eat You Up” featuring rapper Flo Rida.  In 2010, BoA released her newest album, “Hurricane Venus.”

The girls of f(x).

K-Pop fans, where you at?? Check out MTV-K for its SM Town 2010 exclusive backstage interview with f(x). If that’ s not enough for you, go to the MTV-K Facebook page to watch an exclusive interview with SHINee from SM Town LA 2010. If you Like their Facebook page, you’ ll get to see what the boys talked about and get access to more about these K-Pop stars.

There is even a chance to win the SM Town sweepstakes at www.mtvk.com/smtownsweeps/ for an autographed copy of Girls Generation, Run Devil Run; BoA, Hurricane Venus; Super Junior, Bonamana; SHINee, Lucifer; and f(x), Nu Abo.

The young starlets of the Korean girl band, GIRLS GENERATION, or SNSD, or more precisely, 소녀시대, have been my recent motivation to lose weight, look cute, and …lose weight.

SNSD's legs got me on the ellipticals

My mantra is hanging in bold print next to my bed – “Dianne, You will achieve the SNSD Body!” Has it been working? No, but that’s another story for another time.

While on my old stationary bike one day, I was typing away on my laptop (who said anything about actually cycling on a bike?) -and I learned that these girls would get to strut their stuff –in LA!

I had to go!

On Saturday, September 5th at the Staples Center, the SMTOWN LIVE ’10 World Tour Concert was a major success with k-pop lovers, Korean American and moreover Asian American teens and families! The SMTOWN LIVE ‘10 Concert is presented by one of South Korea’s most prominent artist’s management agencies, SM Entertainment. The LA concert is a part of SM Entertainment’s world tour project which will begin in Seoul, then continue to LA, Tokyo, Shanghai, and other major Asian cities.

SM has been attempting to bring Asia’s best performers to the global stage, and moreover the United States for many years now. The concert has already been imprinted as Asia’s leading concert brand thanks to their successful tour in 2008. Singers like multilingual star, BoA, have grown to become a legendary icon all over Southeast and East Asia due to her popularity at SMLIVE. Her single, “I Did it For Love” even aired on American radio, but unfortunately died after a couple of months. In fact, many artists represented by SM are multilingual, if not bilingual. The company has been and is working towards creating “global” artists who can represent Asia as a whole. SM Entertainment has been highly successful in creating popular girl and boy bands during the last twenty years and continues to hold great power over the Korean and Asian music industries.

The four hour-long concert was a fun event for the whole family to enjoy. I attended the event with my sister and cousin and had the time of my life. The line-up included all of SM’s greatest including my favorites: SHINee (a young teeny-bopper boy band), SuperJunior (the sexy boy band), Lee Yeon Hee (actress turned singer), my new favorite- TRAX (a Korean rock-and-roll hottie), f(X) (SM’s newest debuting girl artist- shout out to my girl Luna!), the romantic KangTa (lovely rhythm and blues/ ballad singer), Zhang Li Yin (another lovely KangTa-look-alike-ballad singer), of course SNSD (the barbies of Korea) and many other SM artists.

The concert definitely drew out diehard K-pop fans in America and proved to be worth the ticket price. The lighting was spectacular and the performances were full of energy and what looked like countless hours of practice. The show also was a treat for fans as the artists attempted to speak to them! The celebrities had all practiced a few English phrases, I’m assuming by the same la ghetto coach, because they repeated, “WHATSSS UPPPP LAAAAA!” only about….100 times. And sprinkled some “Yo’s” and a few “Yep’s” here and there.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the number of non-Korean fans. Many of these fans were Vietnamese and Chinese Americans. The crowd ranged from all different ethnicities, and in a way, it was refreshing to see that the white girl next to me wanted to be desperately Korean.

Cool.

Many of the performances were led by the two most popular pop groups, SuperJunior and SNSD. The diverse crowds waved light sticks, signs, and screamed whenever they pranced on stage. But perhaps the most anticipated performer of the night was BoA. BoA, who told the audience that this year marks her already 10 year anniversary with SM Entertainment, showcased a very mature yet outrageously Lady Gaga-esque performance.

SMLIVE was personally, such a great journey down memory lane for me as I got to see all of the musicians I loved and listened to during my 14 months of studying abroad in Korea in person. Every song reminded me of a memory I created and shared in Seoul and it was marvelous to see others rock out to those tunes as well. Overall, the event was a relaxing and upbeat show for the whole family but unfortunately not enough to showcase Asia’s greatest in hopes to be picked up by mainstream American music producers and the glitz of Hollywood. But luckily, they will always have the support of Asian Americans, Asian expats, and k-pop lovers around the world as well as boundless opportunities to sink their teeths into American pop culture as we enter in this globalized era. And while we wait for those golden opportunities, I will be practicing those SNSD dance moves.

And this time, it won’t even be entirely to lose weight.

A dancer from House Dance International 2009.

House.
A home, a shelter for people.

House.
A children’s game.

House.
A television series.

House.
Soul, funk, dance.

And everything in between.

In lower Harlem in New York City, from July 8-10, in Aaron Davis Hall, dancers from all over the world gathered to showcase, workshop, discuss and compete (“battle”) in the categories of House, Vogue, Experimental and Waacking. This three-day extravaganza, otherwise known as House Dance International (HDI), was dedicated exclusively to the art form of house dance.

Conceived by Executive Director Santiago Freeman,  HDI’s mission is to celebrate the different kinds of house dance and the culture and music that surround it. And people from all across the globe, whether it be the West Coast, East Asia or Europe, fly in to spectate, compete and support.

When I arrived at the venue on Saturday, many of the dancers were already gathered in loose circles here and there, warming up with one another. As the music pulsed in the background, those who were watching throbbed along with the bass, taking in the person at the center of the circle, who would dip and rock, sharing and showcasing what he knew. They took turns weaving in and out of the center, never taking too long but also taking their time. Some were warming up on their own, while others mingled, stretching their feet and arms above them, laughing as old friends were recognized and new ones were made.

When it came time, I made my way to the Harlem Stage, where the battles were actually going to take place. I was more accustomed to these kinds of street battles taking place in an open area with a designated dance area where the audience would gather in a circle to watch. As I settled down into my plush seat, I realized that by having the battles on stage, it seemingly elevated the battles to a performance piece.

And it was.

House: Hideki (Japanese) vs. King Charles

We went through the semifinals for House, Experimental, Waacking and Vogue, all of which were judged by Desiree Faltine and Yugson Hawks, Evelyn Santos, Tyrone Proctor and Cesar Valentino, all legendary pioneers in their respective underground street dance. Each had worked extraneously to teach, promote and bring attention and respect to his or her dance form. All of them have had extensive experience working with and on projects that are highly regarded everywhere and  boast impressive resumes. Among their achievements include, but are not limited to,  founding dance crews and clubs, working as a choreographer on the film Maestro, being a featured dancer on Soul Train, and dancing in music videos and touring with celebrities.

The host himself was no newcomer to this kind of work and dedication. Ejoe Wilson is a notable and highly influential house dancer, one of the best in the world. As he pumped the audience for energy, scolding people for nodding off lest they do so in his presence, he introduced each dancer to the floor and made sure that those who did not qualify for the next round was acknowledged for his hard work.

Vogue: Leiomy

When quick intermissions were taken, the audience would leap up to their feet and dance up and the aisles, amongst the seats with each other, as once again, the music was brought up a notch or two. The judges would later come down to join the dancing or chat with other dancers.

From 7:30 pm to 2: 00am, dancers came up to face off, each battle getting more and more intense as fewer and fewer dancers were left to battle.

Since my discovery and exploration of dance, I had quickly learned that Asia was a formidable presence in the underground dance scene. Some of the best were from Japan and Korea, which I was amazed to hear. As a child, what I had seen of Asian dancers was not the best; sometimes, it was horribly embarrassing. To me, the choreographed dance I saw for BoA’s hit K-Pop song was awkward and juvenile, nothing compared to Beyonce or Usher’s. But as my research on YouTube expanded, more and more Asian dancers were popping up. When I spoke with my peers, they confirmed it.

Experimental Prelims: Future (Japanese)

Having learned this before my arrival, I was not surprised to see Asian faces that were interspersed among the black and Latino dancers. Many of them had traveled a long, long distance from home to participate in this event. Although most of the dance categories were dominated by non-Asians, each category had a solid number of Asians competing in them, most of whom were respected and had established a name for him or herself.

Waacking: Junko vs. Ebony

It was exhilarating to see Asians among the crowd, excelling at something that was not so rigid and academic as engineering or some science-based discovery. Some of them placed or came very close to placing.

But this wasn’t about what country you were reppin’ or who won the title for this year’s winner in X category of HDI 2010.

This was very much about sharing what you knew, appreciating what you received, and being able to see past an individual’s race, color, ancestry, creed, age, sex or sexual orientation. Here was where we could transcend that and come to speak one language, despite our ethnic or multiracial backgrounds and different upbringings.

We were all speaking the language of House.