On May 12, LE SSERAFIM's management agency SOURCE MUSIC released KAZUHA's first-ever interview on an official online fan community.
During the interview, KAZUHA talked about her life as a ballet dancer, then what made her come to the decision to enter the K-pop industry.
KAZUHA said, "I started ballet when I was three. My mom sent me to a ballet studio near our home and I didn't even realize what I was doing then. It wasn't my choice to start ballet. When I was young, I just liked having fun with friends there. But as I started entering competitions, I began to take ballet more seriously. Ballet dancers looked cool, and I wanted to be one of them."
She continued, "The more I did ballet, the more I wondered if ballet was what I truly wanted to do though. It was fun, but at the same time, I kept asking myself, 'Is this really something I want to pursue?' That was when I thought to myself, 'I want to try expressing myself in different ways, like through K-pop performances.'"
She resumed, "At that time, all the K-pop auditions were taking place online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that gave me an unexpected opportunity. I didn't have many ballet classes at school around that time as well. So, I just decided, 'Let's just do it!', then sent in my audition video to SOURCE MUSIC."
KAZUHA stated, "I submitted a dance cover of BTS' 'Dynamite', a dance break in 'Dynamite' in particular. I also sent a video of me doing ballet. While I was getting ready for the audition, I watched a lot of BTS' performances, and they truly impressed me. The seven of them made the same dance moves, but they all danced in their own style."
She carried on speaking about BTS, "JIMIN's dancing especially grabbed the attention of mine. It was very beautiful. I was amazed to witness someone who is able to balance classical dance and K-pop choreography so well. This made me more interested in performing in the K-pop industry."
The LE SSERAFIM member said, "I fell in love with K-pop after I first listened to BLACKPINK's music. I happened to watch 'BOOMBAYAH' music video on YouTube on one random day, and I was totally blown away by it. It was as if a whole new world had opened up in front of me."
She went on, "I saw BLACKPINK performing live at a concert in Osaka later on. When I saw their performance with my own eyes, I became totally overwhelmed. I cried there. It was cool in a different way to ballet performances. That was when I wanted to be on stage too. BLACKPINK members are pretty, cool and charismatic. I wanted to be like them―a cool girl, rather than a cute girl."
(SBS Star)