Twice member Momo – 4 things to know about the Japanese K-pop girl group idol, girlfriend of Super Junior’s Heechul
Praised by Girls’ Generation choreographer Lia Kim and tapped by Park Jin-young, JYP Entertainment’s founder, Momo is a talented dancer who’s well-loved by her fans
Today (November 9), a little over a week after their appearance, Twice member Momo celebrates her 24th birthday. Here are four ways she’s captured hearts across the globe.
She’s a passionate dancer
Momo began dancing from a young age, attending Stepout Dance Studio in Osaka in her native Japan at the age of three. She even appeared in the music video of K-pop diva Lexy in 2008, at the age of 11, years before her debut.
Her big break came when JYP Entertainment scouts came across a YouTube video of her dancing alongside her older sister. Impressed by the video, the agency invited the two to attend an audition. Although her sister unfortunately didn’t make it through, Momo succeeded and moved to South Korea in 2012. She went on to join JYP and Mnet’s girl group competitive reality show, Sixteen, in 2015, through which seven out of nine Twice members were selected. Momo herself was eliminated, but she was added back to the group at the end of the competition by JYP founder Park Jin-young himself because of her exceptional dance and performance skills.
Said skills even earned her praise from fellow K-pop idols and choreographers. On Korean radio show Idol Radio in 2018, Lia Kim, the choreographer for Girls’ Generation, former 2NE1 member Minzy, Lee Hyori and Son Dam-bi, named Momo as the best dancer in K-pop, commenting that she “is like a dancer sent down from the gods”.
Her Korean learning videos are adorable – and relatable
After these members moved to South Korea to become trainees under JYP Entertainment, they had to brush up on their Korean language skills, of course – not only for day-to-day life, but to better communicate with their fans. And videos of Momo learning Korean always end up going viral since she’s just too cute.