aurora 오로라
'Sneakers" Dance Practice Left to right: Miso, Jiwon, Xiaoting, Pixie, Lisa
Background information
Origin	Seoul, South Korea
Genres	K-pop
Years active	2022–2023
Labels	Diamond Soul Factory
Associated acts	24CARAT, CARAT XY, Janus, DIA, Jay. M
Korean name	오로라
Romanization	o-ro-ra

This article contains Korean text.Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Hangul and hanja.

aurora (Korean: 오로라, RR: o-ro-ra) is a South Korean girl group, represented by the label Diamond Soul Factory. The group has a concept with no set amount of members, and the current iteration stands at 5 members: Miso, Jiwon, Xiaoting, Lisa and Pixie (Graduated members: Swan, Rose, Karina, Kazuha, Yuna, Wonyoung). 

Their official debut was at midnight on January 29, 2022 with the release of their first single with title songs 'Ice Cream Cake' and b-side 'The Light'. Their official colors were herb green and smokey blue, and their fanbase name was announced to be 'Flickers'. They were the first 'limitless' concept group in Diamond Soul Factory, with members graduating when they were ready to move on to different projects. It was expected that future female trainees would be placed into the group as well. 

In April 2023, DSF announced that aurora would be disbanding. They released a final single and did a goodbye performance at the Indonesia Dream Stage concert. 

You can find the profile of current aurora members here.

Pre-debut

Prior to debuting with aurora, some members had already been active in the entertainment industry with Lisa and Jiwon performing on DSF's showcase Diamonds in the Rough. Other members have kept their pre-debut career rather lowkey, with Pixie specializing in traditional Chinese arts; she was traineed in classic Shanghainese dance style; Chinese opera and masters a series of instruments, such as the zither.
  
Before joining DSF, Miso was a trainee with the now defunct Dallae Entertainment between 2018 and early 2020. As a member of the company's pre-debut girl group, Stiorra, she performed at various festivals, civilian and military. Despite their modest following, the company dissolved before Stiorra could officially debut. Miso also later taught dance classes at the Audrey&Marilyn Dance Studio, and regularly posts to the DSF Channel. 

Information about the graduated members includes facts, such as:
- Swan was a trained opera singer, as were her parents. She and Rose were both native English speakers, being born in english-speaking countries - USA and Australia, respectively. Swan graduated the group shortly after they debut release.
- Rose also participated in 24CARAT, but had to undergo a voice modules operation that put her on a long hiatus from singing. She joined aurora upon her return, and graduated after one comeback.
- Karina was the leader of the group from their debut until the end of promotions for "First", when she graduated. Not much is known about her past before joining DSF, she appeared on DSF's showcased evaluations.

- Yuna placed as the top female trainee and 3rd overall on the survival show 24CARAT

- Wonyoung has walked down fashion runways under the names of B&E

Career

January 29, 2022: Debut EP "Ice Cream Cake"

In early January 2022, DSF began teasing the debut of a new girlgroup. A five member group with a "graduation" concept that intrigued fans. The concept meant that once members of the group were ready to move on to different projects, they would leave the group and another girl would take their place. This allowed opportunities for trainees to eventually debut, and debut faster. The teasers presented a strong girl crush concept with high social-media ratings. At midnight on January 29, 2022, DSF dropped aurora's single album with a double track. 'Ice Cream Cake' was the main promotional track with b-side being 'The Light'. 

Ice Cream Cake was a haunting tune collaborated on by many DSF employees and idols, with Janus' Romeo leading the production, LISA creating the choreography and former member Swan writing the lyrics. B-side track had the heavy hand of MJ of DIA and producer Park Chanyeol who fronted the lyrics, composition and production of the track. Both these tracks were promoted on live music shows, but only Ice Cream Cake gained one win throughout promotions. Despite the lack of wins, their debut marked them as a unique girl group with triple threat members. 
 

Promotional shot for the dual title "FEARLESS"
(Left to Right: Miso, Jiwon, Lisa, Xiaoting, Pixie)

June 2, 2022: First single-album "Volume I: Expansion"

Mid summer 2022, DSF launched the teasers for the second generation lineup and their next release. On June 2, 2022, the second EP launched across all platforms. Title track "First" starred a unique arrangement of vocals and dance with a girl crush concept, while b-side Downpour was a softer, ballad, that really showcased the strength of the group's vocalists. Miso and Pixie joined the line-up in this comeback, debuting as main dancer and vocalist respectively, following Swan's graduation. The members were then Karina, Miso, Xiaoting, Pixie, Yuna and Wonyoung.

First was a collaborative effort between fellow trainee Shin Ryujin and choreographer Lee Know, and even fellow group member Pixie. Interesting fact it that Shin Ryujin is the older sister of lead dancer Yuna.

The track gained 2.5 wins during promotion (tying with fellow DSF group Janus for their final win). 

September 17, 2022: Second single-album "Volume II: Breakup"

Early September 2022, DSF began teasing a new release with individual concept photos. It was at this time that the newest member, Kazuha, was also introduced to be joining the group. On September 17, 2022, aurora's second single-album 'Volume II: Breakup' was released. Consisting of two tracks, 'Dun Dun' and b-side 'Put It Straight'. With Karina's graduation, the line-up was now Miso, Xiaoting, Pixie, Kazuha, Yuna and Wonyoung, with Miso taking over the leader role.

The two tracks were a multi-collaboration effort with many DSF talents, with former aurora leader Karina writing and co-producing 'Dun Dun' along with JANUS' Hwang Hyunjin. Pixie created the score while famed choreographers Im Nayeon and Lee Know created the dance. Lee Know also choreographed the live performance of 'Put It Straight', a track written and composed by soloist Kim Chaewon (with fair mention to Pixie on the score once again). Hwang Hyunjin of JANUS makes his name again with his production of the b-side track. 
 

December 25, 2022: Holiday Single "Beautiful Christmas"

On Christmas day, DSF released a special collaboration single with sister-group DIA. DSF soloist S♡mi also lent her voice and presence to the track. It was not promoted live.  

December 27, 2022: First Single Album "Volume III: Recovery"

On December 27, 2022, aurora's first mini-album "Volume III: Recovery" was released on all streaming platforms. Individual concept photos were released, eventually announcing the addition of two new members: Lisa and Jiwon. This comeback signalled the group's first ever mini-album, with three music videos and special stages of 'Sorry Not Sorry'. The b-side track Fearless also marked one of Nichkhun's final projects with the entertainment company before retiring from producing to focus on his family.

Other tracks, such as Color Me Rad and title track Adios were collaborated on with the efforts of Hwang Hyunjin (Janus), and famed choreographers Im Nayeon and Lee Know. Pixie also left her composition talents on multiple tracks of the album. 

February 7, 2023: aurora x adidas collaboration "Sneakers"

On February 7, 2023, aurora's first sponsored collaboration project was released on all official DSF Entertainment streaming platforms. The music video nearly broke 50 million views in the first 48 hours, falling shy of a few thousand views. The song was promoted on music shows, gaining two wins in its cycle. Popular DSF names made an appearnace on the creidts of the track with aurora's Pixie with producer, singer-songwriter Purrflamingo as well. Popular DSF choreographer Lee Know also helped with the choreography structure of the dance. 

This song was rumoured to be first of many to occur under the aurora x adidas collaboration. 
 

May 6, 2023: "Goodbye" - Final Single

On May 6, 2023, DSF released aurora's final song, Goodbye. The song was not promoted, but was performed at the Indonesian Dream Stage Concert, where the group said their final goodbyes to the stage as a group. Goodbye charted as one of the top songs for many days, ranking at number one for five consecutive days before dropping to fourth place, and staying there. The track was written and composed by Pixie, who was quoted saying: "It was important for [her] to be involved in aurora's last project."  

Members

Xiaoting went on hiatus not long into promotions for 'Part 1: First', with Pixie filling her space for the remainder of the promotions. She has since come back to join the girls for the release of their second single-album 'Volume II: Breakup'. 
Pixie and Miso were revealed during the release of 'Part I: First' and Kazuha was revealed with the release of 'Volume II: Breakup'. 
At the end of the promotional cycle for 'Volume II: Breakup', DSF Entertainment further announced that Yuna and Kazuha would officially be graudating from the group. Kazuha has decided to pursue her ballet career professionally and will be stepping down from the idol world. Following creative differences, and lengthy discussions, Yuna's contract was said to be terminated to allow her creative freedom over her career. 
While aurora prepared for their comeback, member Wonyoung decided to resign from the entertainment industry to focus on her studies. 
Following the announcement of aurora's disbandment, DSF revealed that Xiaoting was terminating her contract with the company to pursue her career in China. Miso and Jiwon also terminated her contract, deciding to step away from idolhood, while the remaining two members, Pixie and Lisa, remain with DSF, and are expected to release future projects. 

Discography

On January 29, 2022 the debut single album 'Ice Cream Cake' was released on all streaming platforms with the first lineup of girls: Swan, Karina, Xiaoting, Yuna and Wonyoung. 

It consisted of 2 tracks, Ice Cream Cake and The Light, created by the idols themselves and infamous staff at DSF.

On June 2nd, 2022, DSF released the second generation lineup and released another single album dubbed 'Part I:  'First' featuring First and Downpour.