Shreya Lenka is an Indian Kpop trainee competing to become the fifth member of South Korean girl band Blackswan, the first Kpop girl group to feature an African American.
Wiki/Biography
Shreya Lenka, also known as Shriya, was born on Monday, September 15, 2003 in Rourkela, Odisha (age 18, 2021). Her zodiac sign is Virgo.
Shriya Renkar childhood photos
She wanted to study music since she was a child. Her deep voice often became a barrier to finding a voice teacher. Her grandmother then took her to a Hindustani classical music teacher, who taught her twice a week. However, she was trained in Western music by watching online videos. Shreya has been training in dance since kindergarten. However, she began to study dance seriously in 2016. She initially learned Odissi dance for a year and a half, but gave up because it was too expensive. She first trained with Madan Mohan Purty, the 2009 BoogieWoogie Hip Hop Champion. When her father was transferred to Jharsuguda, she entered the dance studio of Mendo Barla, a famous choreographer, fitness instructor and dance studio owner.
She has been training in free dance, hip hop and modern dance. After completing her 10th class, she had to drop out for a year due to the lockdown in India in 2021. When she had to go to South Korea as a Kpop trainee, she decided to enroll in grade 11.
appearance
Height: 5′7″
Eye color: black
Hair color: black
family
Her father, Abinash Lenka, works in a private company in Jharsuguda.
Shreya Lenka’s childhood photos with her father
Her mother’s name is Priyatama. She has a brother and a sister.
Shreya Lenka and her siblings
Fighting for the black swan
From June to July 2020, members of the K-pop girl group Rania published a series of posts on Instagram announcing that Rania would change her name to “Black Swan.” Three old members of Rania, Youngheun, Leia and Hyeme, and two new members, Judy and Fatou, were named Blackswan.
original members of black swan
In October 2020, the band released its first full-length album “Goodbye Rania” and its lead single “Tonight”.
On November 9, 2020, Hyeme was controversial for allegedly defrauding a friend out of 50 million won (approximately US$44,800). The next day, DR music announced Hyeme’s departure due to the controversy and the termination of her contract with her agency. On May 10, 2021, DR Music announced the global audition for new members of Blackswan. Shreya participated in global auditions and in the first round, she sent dance videos and song videos. After the first round, she jumped for joy when the Blackswan members announced her name. In July, she was selected as one of 23 shortlisted candidates from 4,000 applicants from around the world. Speaking about it in an interview, she said,
My name was announced after eighteen girls, so I thought I would need to practice day and night to reach first place. I had a hard time finding the right songs. I took a few pictures and sent them to my teacher. Although he doesn’t listen to English songs or Korean pop music, he said one of my songs was good, so I trusted him and sent it to DR Music. “
The second round of auditions took place during a partial shutdown in Odisha; studios and gyms were closed, so she filmed the video in public and sent it, as per protocol. Among the 23 candidates, 4 were selected in the second round to go to South Korea for training; Shreya is one of them. Two girls decided to drop out of school, leaving Shreya and Gabriela Dalcin from Brazil to strive to become K-pop idols. In December 2021, she went to South Korea’s DR Music for six months of training, striving to become the fifth member of Blackswan.
Favorites
- Korean pop girl bands: Rania, Blackpink
- Korean pop boy bands: BTS, Exo
- Song: DR Feel Good by Rania
Facts/Trivia
- She is a yoga practitioner, raised in a family of yoga enthusiasts. Her uncle and aunt are yoga teachers, and yoga is part of the family’s morning routine. She has even won several yoga competitions. According to her,
When I learned that yoga poses could improve my body language and flexibility, I started practicing them more. I was more interested in the creative field, so when my family said I could make a career in that, I started putting in more effort. “
Shreya Lenka does yoga
- She has won awards in many dance competitions.
Awards won by Shreya Lenka in dance competitions
- Her parents always encouraged her to follow her passion for dance. According to her parents, Lenka was always hardworking and focused. When she was a student, she went to dance training after coming home from school at 2:30 pm every day and never came back before 9 pm.
- According to her mother, she wanted to pursue a career in dance, but was unable to do so due to her father’s disapproval. She doesn’t know if her daughter will become a K-pop idol, but she’s happy that Shreya is realizing her dream.
- She became interested in K-pop after a friend showed her the song “Growl” by K-pop boy band Exo. She fell in love with K-pop and started copying their moves. She quickly learned about PSY, Rania, BTS, and Blackpink, and hoped to become an idol herself.
- In 2021, one of her friends told her to apply for K-pop auditions that were held online. She began applying for jobs at various entertainment companies. She follows many institutions on social media and watches bloggers talking about K-pop. That’s how she stumbled upon DR Music’s global audition for Blackswan’s fifth member and applied.
- She has auditioned for many companies to become a trainee. Her first K-pop audition happened during India’s first lockdown. The dance studio was not open, so she could only shoot in the yoga studio where her aunt taught yoga. She was ineligible to audition but received positive reviews, which caused her to experience rejection at all other auditions. Speaking about the audition in an interview, she said:
Every time I auditioned, I tried to improve myself by watching videos. “
- She trained hard on vocals during a year’s break and auditioned for many companies to become a Kpop idol trainee. She studies English novels to improve her vocabulary and listens to English songs to improve her pronunciation. She also started her own YouTube channel and learned how to film and edit her dance videos. Her YouTube channel Shreya Lenka Dance has 19,700 subscribers, where she posts dance videos and song covers.
- She spends her days practicing yoga, dance exercises, vocal training, learning Korean, watching Korean dramas, and studying dance and music.
- In her spare time, she engages in sketching and mandala art.
Shreya Lenka’s Instagram story showing mandala art
- If Shreya becomes a member of Blackswan, she will become the third person to become an Indian Kpop idol. According to reports, the first was Sid aka Siddhant Arora (from Uttar Pradesh), a former member of the multinational Z-Pop band Z-Boys. The second one is Priyanka Mazumdar (from Assam), a member of Z-Girls, the female counterpart to Z-Boys. The two are from “Z POP,” a talent show that promotes Korean pop music in Asia.
Siddhant Arora and Priyanka Mazumdar
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education