From Blackpink to Street Woman Fighter 2: The Singapore-based dance talent agency making a mark in K-pop (2024)

It was 2023 at Coachella Valley in Indio, California. Amid neon pink lights onstage, the four-piece Rose, Jennie, Jisoo and Lisa were making history as the first Korean act to headline the legendary music festival, prompting Blinks to dub the event "Pinkchella".

That same year, the female dance crew Jam Republic made waves in the South Korean entertainment industry after they debuted on the popular Mnet survival TV show Street Woman Fighter 2 and emerged second.

A few months later, they danced alongside global sensation BTS’ Jungkook in the live performance video for his song 3D.

It would probably surprise many that a Singapore-based company – Jam Republic The Agency–was instrumental in making those memorable K-entertainment events possible.

Kiel Tutin, a partner in the agency, served as the creative director and choreographer for Blackpink's historic Coachella performance, and even danced onstage alongside the K-pop stars.

And to compete in Street Woman Fighter 2, the agency brought together five members from New Zealand, Australia and the United States to form their global dance crew: Jam Republic. During the 10-episode show, Jam Republic vied for the title of the best Korean female dance crew.

CONNECTING DANCERS WITH OPPORTUNITIES

Jam Republic The Agency may be riding the Korean Wave, but it isn't solely focused on K-pop.

With 23 studios based in 21 countries like Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, Thailand and Australiaunder its Jam Republic Collective umbrella,this talent agency helps its dance artistes find professional work worldwide.

This includes getting their dancers cast in commercials, music videos and tours, as well as getting them to choreograph dances for artistes. The agency even sends its dancers around the world to share their expertise through workshops and events.

Ong shared that the agencyhas worked with a diverse group of artistes such as C-pop stars Jackson Wang and Luhan, Japanese artiste XG and even American stars Jennifer Lopez and The Chainsmokers, among many others.

As for why Jam Republic The Agency decided to make Singapore its base, Ong, a Malaysian who grew up in New Zealand, shared: “Singapore was always home to me.”

The 42-year-old added that he has friends and family living in the country so whenever he travelled from New Zealand to Asia, it just made sense for him to base himself in Singapore.

“When I moved to Singapore, I didn't know what I was doing. I was actually kind of like on an overseas experience, just moving away from home, finding something new,” he recalled.

CREATING A GLOBAL COMMUNITY FOR DANCERS

After a year of travelling, Ong joined Singaporean dance school Recognize! Studios as a general manager.

Inspired to create a global community for dancers, the former B-boy co-founded Jam Republic Collective with fellow dancer Joel Gallarde that same year.

Recognize! Studios is now part of this collective, along withEn Beat in New Zealand, UNC in Malaysia, Big Dance Studio in India, Sinostage in China, Kindred Culture in Canada and ProDancer Studios in Greece, just to name a few.

In 2017, Ong and Gallarde thought they had built a vast enough network of dancers from all over the world, and went on to create Jam Republic The Agency.

“Initially, it was difficult to get choreographers, period. Not just global, just any choreographers to join our company,” Ong said.

He explained that when they started Jam Republic The Agency, there were not many dance agencies outside of the United States. “It was a very new concept to a lot of dancers. They don't know what we do. They don't know if we can help.”

What bolstered their credibility was that they had proven, through Jam Republic Collective, that they were able to get dancers jobs.It also helped that they had made connections with studios in other parts of Asia.

In fact, meeting the “right people” proved to have a domino effect. After working with one partner, the agency would often be recommended to another in a different country.

Recalling the early days of Jam Republic The Agency, Ong shared that whenever dancers and partners were recruited, agreements were made verbally. It was only about three or four years later that they started signing formal contracts.

“I was blessed and lucky that all the partners (and dancers) we had were often like-minded and there were no trust issues. And that's why it worked well till today.”

WORKING WITH BLACKPINK

To say that 2023 was a crazy year for Jam Republic The Agency would be an understatement. After all, that was the year global superstars Blackpink headlined Coachella.

Kiel Tutin, the mastermind behind the girl group’s electric performance, told CNA Lifestyle in a Zoom interviewthat his work with Blackpink continued into their Born Pink Encore tour.

He shared that having Jam Republic The Agencyrepresent him while he was working on such projects gave him more security as the agency could make objective decisions that prioritised his interests.

“If you're self-managing, you're always worried, or anxious, or nervous that you are fully responsible for not only executing the job, the project, but also like negotiating and doing that communication,” he added.

Since joining the agency, the 28-year-old has worked with groups such as Twice, Itzy and Aespa, and he shared that he's choreographed over 100 K-pop dances.

Still, the projects with Blackpink remain one of his favourites, he said.

“The girls (are) all kind of a similar age to me so I think we initially connected back when they were trainees, and then we've just kept that relationship throughout the years.

“They're just so good. The music's great, and what they represent and who they are, I think, is obviously a testament to why they're so successful.”

COMPETING ON STREET WOMAN FIGHTER 2

While Tutin’s career with the agency has been prolific, the name Jam Republic gained greater recognition after Street Woman Fighter 2.

Crew leader Kirsten Dodgen, who has been signed to the agency since 2019, told CNA Lifestyle that the show was the “biggest job” she has ever done and that it was “mentally very hard”.

The 26-year-old explained that the agency had looked after her and her four other members, making sure they were on schedule, ate well and had time to rest.

“They checked up on us all the time. If we needed anything outside or on set, (they were) always there,” she shared.

The South African dancer, who moved to New Zealand when she was four, said: “(Jam Republic has) been like a family, especially Nick (Ong)."

"And he always wants the best, not just for me, but I know he always wants the best for his artists and whoever comes under his wing. He always fights for dancers," she added.

Since being on the show, many doors have opened for Dodgen – especially in the K-pop scene. She has choreographed for artists such as Jay Park, (G)I-dle and, more recently, Seventeen.

“I like that they are wanting to, I guess, improve or just break a new kind of genre into the K-pop scene, which I think is always needed in the dancing as well … (It) makes me happy because they want to push their bodies to exploring my style.”

HELPING TO FOSTER LOCAL TALENT

Choreography, TV appearances and backup dancing – these flashy examples fall under just one of the agency’s main pillars, commercial work. Besides that, the dance agency also focuses on dance education.

Ong hopes tohelp aspiring Singaporean dancers realise that being a professional dancer is a viable career option.

Since 2015, Ong has had a hand in organising Summer Jam Dance Camp as part of one of the largest street dance festivals in the Asia-Pacific, RFJam SummerJam.

This dance convention brings a lineup of choreographers and dance mentors from all over the world to teach other dancers – regardless of their backgrounds or dancing styles. While it is now held in Vietnam, it was hosted in Singapore until 2019.

Recalling those days, Ong shared that although one of the classes had about 200 participants, only eight were from Singapore.

“And this (was held) in Singapore, right? I feel like a lot of them are scared to go take (a) class when there's a lot of outsiders ‘cause they don't want to be judged in a way,” he said.

“But that's really, really important, right? … (Going) outside of your comfort zone? That's where you grow. Same thing as us (Jam Republic The Agency), we have to go outside and figure it out with the bigger fishes in the ocean before we can grow.”

He added that Jam Republic had struggled for “really long” to establish itself in Singapore, leading the team to decide to make it overseas before returning to make a difference.

This ideology was also what pushed him to send around 20 Singaporean choreographers overseas to teach over the last 13 years.

As the agency is busy with its global work, Ong hasn’t been able to dedicate as much time to this agenda as he would like. But he still believes in the talent that Singapore has to offer.

“Everyone's looking at what's happening over at the other side of the world, they forget to look inwards,” Ong said.

“Singapore needs to believe in their own a bit more … because I think they have great talent. Really, really, really, really good talent. The issue here is the hunger to push beyond that.”