Look, spaghetti arms. This is my dance space. This is your dance space. I don't go into yours, you don't go into mine. You gotta hold the frame.

If you can name that quote then you're probably A) Googling it, B) a connoisseur of 80's cinema, or C) a nerd like me. Either way, the quote is apropos for this column as we get into some serious territory. Last week's column was all about the best dances from the early years of K-pop, 1993-1996. Today, we dive headfirst into what I call the Golden Years of K-pop; 1997-2000. For me, this was the greatest era of Korean music. You had the idols, the ballads, cute guys, pretty girls, great music, weird outfits, and, of course, the coolest dances around.

This was the time when K-pop really came into its own and began spilling over the Korean borders and into the rest of the world. Kids and teens across the globe got their first taste of the music that would become a global phenomenon. I cannot tell the�hours I devoted listening to, watching, and learning everything I could about this music. �Looking back, it borders on embarrassing (and creepy) but at the time it was a part of my life. I know 90% of you will disagree, but below I present to you what are, in my opinion, the best dances from the years 1997-2000.

J.Y. Park - She Was Pretty/Honey

Last week, I said that I thought J.Y. Park was the best at creating a dance that fit the song perfectly and these were no exception. "She Was Pretty" was inspired by disco with a big nod to the great funk music of the 70's (notice the afro wigs), and "Honey" was a little R&B with big band mixed in. Each dance is how I would have wanted to move if I had never seen the actual dance before. It incorporates styles of that era that are easy to learn, easy to repeat, and above all, fun.

Jinusean - Tell Me

When this song came out, it was kind of out of left field because the group's first single "Gasoline" was heavy, serious hip hop. This song on the other hand was light, fun, and very pop in nature. But the thing that stood out the most was that awesome dance. During the chorus, Jinu and Sean would do this arm shimmy-thing (I really don't know how to explain it) while Uhm Jung Hwa would belt out her part. This song was also released during the Fall/Winter and the guys always wore these heavy jackets, scarves, and of course the infamous ski gear that was like a prerequisite for every K-pop group in the late 90's.

H.O.T - Candy

Released in 1996 but making it big in 1997, I almost feel lazy including this song because it's on nearly every list that I write but that just underscores the importance and impact that the group and the song had. H.O.T. became the template for future groups and the dancing was also emulated by everyone back in the day. Honestly, I've forgotten a lot of the dances from my high school years but this is one that will probably stick around in my memory banks whether I like it or not.

SES - I'm Your Girl

As my friend Lana would say, "this is so obvi(ous)!" Maybe the most iconic dance of the era (certainly in the top 3) and from the original idol girl group. I know I've mentioned this before but the dance was created by H.O.T. member Moon Hee Jun and was so original when compared to other dances a out at the time. SES had other great dances but nothing tops this one and of course, watching my OG crush Eugene makes me wish I was much cooler and better looking so I could have married her. *slap* OK, just woke myself up from the dream state I temporarily entered.

DJ DOC - Dance with DOC

I'm old as you know and every once-in-a-while, I'll head to a local noraebang (karaoke) and enjoy one too many adult beverages. When that happens, this dance comes out every time. I don't know what it is but I love it. It had that classic side-to-side arm dance that was very simple, kind of goofy, but definitely memorable.

Yoo Seung Jun - Nightmares (Paralysis)

Yoo Seung Jun was known as much for his dancing as he was for his music. His moves were new to K-pop fans and couple that with the Cali swag and fans (mainly girls but more than a few guys) fell in love. The leg cross jump move and the sprinkler dance (turn your body slowly with your arm out to the right and then spring back quickly to the left) might have been the most well-known of all his dances but all of them were super high energy and refreshing to the K-pop scene.

Lee Jung Hyun - Wah

Lee Jung Hyun might be the most original singer of that time because up to that point, I had never seen anything like her or this dance in my life. It wasn't a dance per se but more the overall atmosphere with the pinky microphone, the herky-jerky moves, and the whole geisha warrior vibe. Plus, I realized later that underneath the makeup and crazy costumes, she was pretty hot as evidenced by her performance with Shinhwa member Jun Jin in the 'Infinity Challenge' duet concert back in 2008. The actual song starts at the 1:34 mark in the video below.

Fin.K.L - Forever Love

The hair tossing, the arm spinning, the pinky promising... it all came together with Fin.K.L's single from their second album. This dance is the group's most known but they weren't really known for their dancing prowess, more the merits of the individual members. I mean, seeing Lee Hyori for the first time was as if my eyes had just been opened to a new world. Much like Neo in 'The Matrix' when he's unplugged and on-board the Nebuchadnezzar.

Shinhwa - Yo!

This group had plenty of big dances but many coming just outside of the date range. For this article, I had to include "Yo!". Shinhwa is still alive and kicking and appearing regularly on their cable program 'Shinhwa Show'. In this song they were trying to go a little hardcore, a little bad boy style and whether that worked or not, I don't know but there's this interlude part with an acoustic guitar and this dance routine that ended with these four big thumps that I practiced in my dorm room of college. What was wrong with me?

g.o.d - Friday Night

g.o.d. was never really known for their dancing but I think most people recognize the Mr. Miyagi wax on wax off dance to "Friday Night". Most JYP artists have a signature dance that everyone remembers but with g.o.d., they are for more known for their appearance on that show where they were taking care of a kid (an early version of the show 'Hello Baby'). Even though their dancing might not have been the best, this dance will always go down as one of the classics. By the way, I love how in the more recent videos when they introduce the artist, they include their email address since it was basically a fairly new form of communication back then. Now it's all Twitter handles and Facebook pages. I'll tell ya, times have changed.



Normally whenever one of these lists are published, its followed by an avalanche of hate but this time, I'll understand if there's some vitriol involved. It was hard whittling down all those great dances of the era to just ten. Feel free to leave your own!