Kim Hyo-yeon

 

Kim Hyo-yeon (born September 22, 1989), is a South Korean singer, dancer, actress, rapper and promotional model. She is a member of the popular South Korean girl group Girls' Generation, formed by S.M. Entertainment in 2007.

Biography

Hyoyeon was born in Incheon, South Korea on September 22, 1989. She grew up with her parents and her younger brother, Kim Min-gu. She auditioned for SM Entertainment at the age of 11 through SM 2000 Casting System. Hyoyeon said that her reason was her mother bringing her to the offices of S. M. Entertainment in the hopes of meeting H.O.T.^[1] She then danced in her audition show.^[2] In 2004, along with Super Junior's Siwon, she was sent to study Chinese in Beijing. Hyoyeon was also picked as Korea's #1 Idol dancer on Star News.^[3]

Career 

Pre-debut and training background

Hyoyeon's formal dance training started in elementary school. At her neighborhood's small hip-hop school,^[4] she learned Hip-Hop, Jazz and Latin dance.^[5] In 1999, she enrolled in Winners Dance School,^[6] a famous dance school in South Korea specializing in popping, locking, animation and various other hip-hop styles. At the school she met Miss A's Min, with whom she formed the dance team Little Winners (리틀위너스). The duo performed at various showcases and was spotlighted by HipHoper.com in 2004.^[7]

She received dance instruction from the Electric Boogaloos^[8] and top choreographers such as Kim Hye-rang,^[9] Poppin Seen,^[10] Kwang Hoo (aka Crazy Monkey),^[11] Poppin DS,^[12] Kwon Seok-jin (aka Locking Khan)^[13] and Black Beat's Shim Jae-won.^[4] She also worked with one of Justin Timberlake's choreographers and a few foreign teachers.^[4]

Before debuting with Girls' Generation, she was BoA's silhouette dancer during a performance at M.net KM Music Festival 2005.^[14] In 2007, she teamed up with Jae Won for a dance collaboration to "Anonymous".^[15]