Rina Chae

Rina Chae is a choreographer and dancer who incorporates her training in street styles, commerical heels, and K-pop into sharp and sensual choreography. Born in Korea, Chae moved to Aotearoa at age ten with her parents and two sisters and was encouraged by her dance teachers to pursue a career in dance.

This path was not easy, however, and she attributes her ambition and drive to the disapproval she experienced as a teenager. “Just the fact I was dancing as a Korean woman,” she recalls, “Throughout the Korean community, that was very looked down upon.”

After graduating with a degree in dance from the University of Auckland, Chae moved to Los Angeles in 2009, training and performing with artists like Beyoncé and Justin Bieber before returning to Aotearoa in 2014. “When I came back to New Zealand,” she remembers. “I saw what was lacking. I felt like I needed to step up and fill it.” Much of her work has been focused on creating pathways for younger dancers, particularly through En Beat Dance Academy, which she founded in 2020 with her hip-hop dancer husband, Mr Zee. The academy focuses on three areas: foundational street style, commercial forms such as heels, choreography and K-pop.

Chae has been described as ‘NZ’s Queen of K-Pop’, having presented some of the first K-pop dance shows in Aotearoa upon her return and choreographing for artists like BoA, AOA, SF9 and Monsta X. She works as a K-pop choreography agent, scouting choreographers for Korean acts, and works on behalf of agencies to audition local talent to join K-pop groups. Chae also stars as the presenter of TVNZ’s K-Pop Academy, a reality TV show in which young people compete to create their own K-pop group.

Importantly, however, her career extends beyond K-pop, and Chae was recently made the Mother of Imperial House of Waacking (New Zealand chapter) and the Dance Liason for Red Bull ‘Dance Your Style’ 2023. Chae and her husband stay connected to the dance community by actively staying involved in street dance battles as well as hosting jams and events.

As a choreographer:

2023 — The Boyz, ‘Roar’
2023 — Venice Qin, ‘Villain’
2020 — Jordan Gavet, ‘Do Better’
2019 — SF9, ‘RPM’ (Co-choreographer)
2019 — SF9, ‘Enough’ (Co-choreographer)
2019 — Cherry Bullet, ‘Q & A’
2019 — Cherry Bullet, ‘Really Really’
2019 — Monsta X, ‘Follow’
2019 — Monsta X, Alligator’
2018 — The Boyz, ‘Giddy up’
2018 — Monsta X, ‘Shoot Out’
2018 — AOA, ‘Bingle Bangle’
2017 — Monsta X, ‘Beautiful’
2017 — Monsta X, ‘Dramarama’
2017 — The Boyz, ‘I’m your boy’
2017 — WJSN, ‘Happy’
2016 — SF9, ‘So Beautiful’ (Co-choreographer)
2015 — BoA (보아), ‘Who Are You’ (Co-choreographer)
2015 — Stephanie (스테파니), ‘Higher/위로위로’ (Co-choreographer)

As host and performance director:

K-Pop Academy (Host and Performance Director)