A Gold Coast-based dancer who has performed alongside Jennifer Lopez at the Super Bowl and appeared in one of YouTube's most-watched music videos says the greatest moment of her career came not in Los Angeles or New York — but on a South Korean reality television dance competition.
Kaea Pearce, who was born in New Zealand and is now based on the Gold Coast, starred in Justin Bieber's Sorry music video, which has accumulated more than 3.9 billion views on YouTube. Yet it was her role leading the Australian squad on the South Korean show World of Street Woman Fighter that she describes as the best work she has ever done.
"I think it's the new LA," Pearce said of South Korea.
From back-up dancer to K-pop idol
Pearce was given just one week to assemble a team — dubbed the AG Squad — to represent Australia on the all-women international dance battle series, competing against teams from the United States, South Korea, Japan and New Zealand. The squad ultimately finished second, narrowly beaten by Japan's Osaka Ojo Gang.
For Pearce, the result was secondary to what the experience represented for dancers who are too often overlooked in Western entertainment.
"We were able to be the stars and show the world we aren't just back-up dancers — we're artists," she said.
Brisbane dancer and choreographer Danica McKenzie, also a member of the AG Squad, said the reception from South Korean audiences was unlike anything she had encountered in her career. When the squad toured South Korea after the show aired, they were treated like celebrities.
"Usually [dancers] go to a concert backing up for an artist. No one is there for you," McKenzie said. "It was insane to know that in Korea as a dancer, you are an artist. You're an idol to them."
Why Seoul has become the world's choreography capital
The contrast between the two industries is stark, according to Dominique Falla, an associate professor at Griffith University and author of The K-Pop Content Strategy. Falla said Seoul has emerged as one of the world's most significant centres for commercial choreography — and the industry's attitude toward dancers sets it apart from the West.
"[In Australia] you're a back-up dancer, a body in a music video, and your name rarely appears anywhere," Falla said. "There's very little pathway from skilled dancer to recognised artist."
In South Korea, choreography sits at the heart of musical performance, and dancers are, in Falla's words, "presented as artists and competitors in their own right."
"The Korean entertainment industry invests in dancers in a way the West simply doesn't," she said.
However, Falla cautioned that fame through K-pop competition shows does not guarantee stability. Dancers and choreographers can still face insecure freelance arrangements, demanding schedules, limited bargaining power, and difficulties securing proper credit or ownership of their work.
Brisbane's dance scene: Big talent, limited opportunity
McKenzie, who teaches at Mad Dance House in the Brisbane CBD and The Home Base in Darra, is a passionate advocate for Queensland's local dance community. But she acknowledges the structural barriers that push talented performers to seek opportunities elsewhere.
"There's minimal opportunities for performers in Brisbane, which I guess is why so many dancers are moving out of Brisbane," she said.
McKenzie believes Brisbane's relative isolation may have an unexpected upside — forcing local performers to refine their skills without the distraction of constant industry attention.
"Maybe we've spent more time nailing our craft because we know we're not being seen," she said.
She is planning to relocate to the United States later this year to pursue work in Los Angeles and New York, though she intends to maintain strong ties to Brisbane and return regularly to give back to the community that shaped her.
"I'm such a homebody. It will be a back-and-forth situation," she said.
For both McKenzie and Pearce, South Korea has reframed what a career in dance can look like — and Queensland performers, it seems, are proving more than ready for the global stage.
