Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Lin
Hi Emily, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I have been dancing since I was 5 years old and have never stopped. I started my dancing journey through a play I did in pre-school and continue to take Chinese traditional dancing and ballet courses. I moved from Taiwan to California in 2008 and really started to take dance more seriously. I took classes including ballet, hip-hop, jazz, lyrical, and contemporary throughout my whole life until the end of high school.
While I have heard of k-pop in the past, I didn’t really start enjoying it until my friend recommended me a song called ‘Ring Ding Dong’ by the group ‘SHINee in 2010 (everyone should give it a listen, it’s a silly song). Through this song, I fell into a rabbit hole in the world of k-pop. I became known as one of the biggest k-pop in middle and high school when it was still a niche genre my classmates did not listen to.
As a dancer and k-pop fan, it is inevitable to want to copy their dances and pretend that you are the idol yourself. So I would learn k-pop dances in the car rides, at lunch, before I sleep, and anywhere that I could. Within the year, I learned over 100+ k-pop dances, full songs. When I was older and allowed to use Instagram, I started seeing the community around k-pop and k-pop dancers. However, it was not until June of 2015 that I finally decided that I wanted to start posting covers myself. At first, Instagram only allowed 15 seconds, and I was able to post daily and keep up with the volume of content I was pushing out. Eventually, it became 60 seconds and now a minute and a half.
I started by wearing barely any makeup, random outfits, and filming at random times of the day in my home. However, as time went on, I realized that the more effort I put into the aesthetics of my videos, the more engagement there was. Towards the end of high school, I became really busy and only had time on the weekends to film. So, oftentimes, I would learn these dances throughout the week and film 10+ covers in one night just to have enough content. I also had to wait till the sun went down for the best lighting possible, eventually pushing the end of my filming times to 3-4 am. In 2018, a group of friends on the team NOLIMITS invited me to be in a dance cover with them for YouTube. From there I found my partner and my life-long friends. Eventually, we expanded the team and created more opportunities for others to discover the interesting aspects of k-pop dancing.
This is my 10th year running this account, and in the middle, there were a few setbacks and it was hard for me to keep up. However, this is one of the few things I enjoy doing the most. I am so lucky to be able to find some of the more important people in my life, and I am grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had, including dancing with my favorite idol, participating in brand events, and performing at incredible places.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It was definitely not a smooth road. When my content was first gaining traction, I struggled a lot with the negative comments in terms of calling out my size. My size does not fit the beauty standards of East Asian countries, so people say many malicious things to me. I have encountered harassment from when I was 15 till now. There were also many moments when I felt that I wasn’t seeing any growth, regardless if it was the numbers or the content I was putting out.
However, through all of my bumps, I have learned to focus on the good parts of this journey. I focus on the people who love me and the fond memories I have created through this experience. This helped me a lot with learning about myself and understanding what to focus on.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I do k-pop covers, especially girl group covers. While many dancers get praised for the strength of their dancing, I often get praised for the elegance and expressions when I dance. I love to give my best performance to everyone and brighten up people’s days when they see me dance!
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I want to encourage everyone to not be afraid to do what they want. While I have been going to school and now working full-time, it is never too late or too little time to complete your hobbies! Have confidence in yourself!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/taemily_
