A Study of Random Dance Scenes Among Young People in a Post-Subcultural Context

Abstract

This study examines random dance among young people from a post-subcultural perspective. Drawing on field observations and in-depth interviews with random dance enthusiasts, it explores how participants understand and construct random dance scenes. The findings suggest that, in the context of platform-mediated and fragmented social interaction, random dance transforms shared K-pop/J-pop tastes into co-present bodily practices, fostering interest-based connections and affective ties. It also provides a post-subcultural scene in which young people pursue aesthetic expression, identity exploration and self-presentation. At the same time, commercialization, commercial urban spaces and media visibility have brought random dance to a wider public and made the scene more diverse. This visibility, however, also brings the risk of alienation as random dance moves from a niche practice toward mainstream attention. By analyzing random dance as a fluid post-subcultural scene rather than as a resistant subculture in the traditional sense, this paper contributes to current discussions of youth culture, fandom and community life.