K-pop WaterBomb – The Last Splash of Summer
Close out summer with the 2nd annual K-pop WaterBomb on Saturday, September 27, at Sunset Park from 11 AM to 4 PM. Local K-pop dance crew, ElementX, is hosting the Waterbomb event for free for the community.
“Think of WaterBomb as a concert where you go and watch your favorite artists or people dancing…and it’s like field day,” said Alani Reifer, the leader of ElementX. “You get wet and you have a lot of fun with the people around you, make new friends, and just hang out with the community.”
This event invites attendees to spray each other and performers with water guns (only from the neck down).
“It allows people to engage with each other,” she said. “So then everyone is engaged during performances and during the dancing.”
Opening the application on July 30 through the group’s Instagram, prospective performers had a month to apply. Out of all those applications, 26 cover groups and soloists are set to perform.
What to Expect at WaterBomb
The day will start with a random dance play (a game in which the chorus of random K-pop songs plays, and if you know the dance, you get on stage and do it). Then, local K-pop cover groups will take the stage. After that, the water games begin, which are open for anyone to play.
To refill water guns, there are buckets of water stationed around the field. However, guests are required to bring their own water shooters and towels.
“We are providing stuff for the games,” Reifer said. “Every game event is going to be provided by me. Everything else is provided by the team, [such as] the snacks and the food.”
While ElementX finalizes the remaining games for the event, the group currently has a list of games that might occur.
Some of the games and activities on the list include tug-of-war, a bean bag run, Super Soaker sponges, dodgeball and volleyball, Battleship, and even Hungry, Hungry Hippos.
“We’re trying to make sure we can make everything happen,” Reifer said.
Starting at 2 PM, the games last for two hours until the event ends. “I definitely would consider wearing something comfortable,” she recommended. “Just wear something that requires you to be able to run, jump–gets you active, but you’re okay while still getting wet.”
Preparing for WaterBomb
Planning a 2nd Event
This is ElementX’s 2nd annual WaterBomb here in Las Vegas. The first event was last year on September 15. ElementX planned to do another WaterBomb after their first, but weren’t sure if people wanted a second event.
“[ElementX] got a lot of messages after our first WaterBomb if our [it] was returning, and we were actually very surprised because we weren’t sure if everyone liked our first WaterBomb,” Reifer said. “We were planning on it, but we needed some confirmation that people enjoyed it. We got about 10 DMs asking if we were doing another next year.”
The excitement for this year’s event was even more apparent from the overflowing signups. Reifer worked on a first-come, first-served basis to decide who got to perform this year.
“We actually had about 15 [people sign up and perform] last year,” she said. “We had about 30+ wanting to this year, but we couldn’t fit all 30.”
Picking the Colors for This Year
One of the ways WaterBomb is unique for performers is the team colors. Every group/soloist is randomly assigned one of two colors that they must include in their outfits.
Last year, performers wore orange or blue. This year, they’ll choose between green and red.
“I like to add that kind of aspect to kind of bring a different vibe to the event. Not in terms of competitiveness, but you have so many people you’ve never seen or never met before on the same team,” Reifer said. “I hope it bonds the colors in some way…in terms of making teams within different teams.”
Hosting the event a second time means they can improve on past mistakes. Last year, a big incident involved an issue with their water supply before the event started.
“The water hose wasn’t working where we were supposed to fill it [water gun refill buckets] up. So we had to buy those jugs of water that you pour–we had to buy eight of those, and we had to go back and forth from the filling station to the park to fill it up constantly,” she said. “It did cost a hefty amount, but we got water, so it was okay.”
Why WaterBomb is Free
ElementX isn’t expecting to make any money off this event. Reifer saved up her own money to fund everything, and the members only chipped in for snacks.
After Reifer first created this event, she decided to continue it to make the K-pop dance community a more welcoming environment. The dance community can be competitive, and dancers often don’t take the time to interact with other people.
“I’ve noticed a shift in the community since I started – a very different shift in the community, to where I feel like we’re all very distant from each other and we don’t bond enough with each other,” she said. “I wanted to give us an opportunity to hang out, to laugh, to have fun, to dance with each other, to support each other.”
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Who is Behind WaterBomb?
ElementX isn’t just a K-pop dance crew. In recent years, the group began to choreograph their own sections to the songs, which they perform, specializing in the genres of hip hop and reggaeton.
With 15 years of dance experience, Alani Reifer has performed K-pop for 10 of those years. She began ElementX midway through high school. However, the group wasn’t called ElementX until after she graduated.
“I actually am not in contact with any of my high school friends except one, and he’s actually in my team, Antonio,” Reifer said. “Everyone else [on the team] is brand new. I’ve met everyone I know through a competition or a friend of a friend.”
ElementX will perform last in the line-up. They will perform four songs back-to-back and have been doing four practices a week, one day for each dance.
“We actually learned all four dances in one day,” she said. “I just like to make sure we all take the time to learn together. We want to make sure everyone is on the same page with the dance.”
Why Should You Attend WaterBomb
WaterBomb offers fun for everyone, even those who don’t listen to K-pop. While the performances are K-pop, the games at the end aren’t specific to the genre. Even if attendees only come for the game selection, the event offers fun ways to be active.
However, it’s highly encouraged to watch the groups dance as it is a good way to support local dance teams. Despite the event being free, dancers relish having a large audience.
Additionally, it’s an easy immersion experience into K-pop culture.
#GetinMotion with ElementX
In addition to attending the WaterBomb event, support ElementX by watching their YouTube covers. And follow the dance crew on Instagram to stay up-to-date with them, and check out the water gun restrictions for the event, along with other prohibited items.
If all goes well this year, ElementX plans to host another next year and turn WaterBomb into an annual event.
“I’m just really excited to see everyone, to experience this with everyone, to hopefully have everyone enjoy what’s going to happen,” Reifer said. “Hopefully, it invites more people to come next year.”
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