#dance discourse

Hi this is part three of my posts analyzing the choreographies of the You Make My Dawn era! Yes its been six months since the last post, what about it! To be fully honest I’ve been putting this post off cause there’s just...so much to talk about with this one it’s daunting. Good to me is truly one of my favorite svt choreos.

First post (x) Second post (x)

There’s so much to talk about in this dance that we could be here all day, so as with the other posts I’m just going to talk about the choruses, and I’m going to focus on two aspects of them

Levels and Variation. I talk about variation, or how much the choreography during the repetitive parts of the song (pre chorus and chorus, and possibly verses) varies throughout the whole dance, in almost all my dance posts because its a huge part of what makes a kpop dance interesting or not. And I want to talk about levels, or how far from or close to the ground different members are at different points in the dance, this time because especially in a group as big as svt, it practically allows them to create formations in three dimensions, allowing for even more possibility of variation throughout the dance.

This first prechorus-chorus-postchorus is the base from which the following choruses will vary. If you look, you can see they are already making some cool choices with levels here. In the prechorus, when they all fall outwards, the people in the back are standing all the way up while the people in front go down to the ground. If you imagine this formation as a circle around the vocalist, adding these levels is like tilting the circle on a diagonal, which gives it depth and texture, along with allowing you to fully see all of the people. I also just want to note that I really like the movement in the chorus and postchorus, especially how well it matches with the music.  I’ve been lucky enough to see this song live, and I think its just amazing how foreceful the music in the chorus feels, the heavy bass and powerful vocals just bowl you over, so therefore the movement does too: it’s hard-hitting, fast, uses all the different parts of their bodies and ranges of movement, and just feels like they’re charging down the stage at you. Then the music settles into this more laidback repetitive section: good to me, good to me, ayayaya, and the movement follows suit. They hold their wrists together and just sort of lazily sway back and forth, but they don’t let it get boring because they keep changing the formation and, again, the levels. At the very end of this section, all of the boys kneel to ground except chan, allowing him to sing the last line of the post-chorus. This change of levels almost signals that we’re moving from a group-oriented dance section (the chorus) back to a section where the focus will be more on individual vocalists (the verse).

AH YEAH BUDDY WE GET TO TALK ABOUT VARIATION NOW!!!

This is one of my favorite instances of variation in an svt dance!! It’s simple but so effective. In the first prechorus the boys are in a circle around the vocalist and they push their chests to the outside, away from him, and then in the second prechorus they stand in the same circle and do the same movement, but this time in towards the middle of the circle!! It’s such a nice way of using the same movement quality and formation but changing it just enough that it catches your eye and keeps the dance interesting. And then it’s immediately followed by a brilliant little moment of levels, where by quickly going from crouching to standing to crouching again, the group makes dk magically turn into mingyu. Levels ba-by! This is a nice segue into the second chorus, which I love love love love love because it simultaneously makes great use of variation AND levels. What is the variation you ask? Well its simple: the choreo is just completely different from the first chorus! Kpop dances in which two of the choruses (or gasp! all three) have different choreography make me so happy for two reasons: one, it shows there was passion and care put into this dance because the choreographer didn’t just make one chorus and then hit copy paste, and two, because it allows you to experience the music of the chorus in a different way! If the audio in the choruses remains the same but the visual stimuli you get while hearing it changes, it creates a new experience for the viewer and I just think that’s so cool. BUT they weren’t just satisfied by being creative with the variation, they also had to put some cool levels into this chorus! In a stroke of brilliance they use levels as the way they transition from one vocalist to the next. Dk, jun, and josh sing the three lines in this chorus, and they are standing one in front of the other in that order, so that when dk finishes his line, he and the boys next to him just get down and keep doing the choreo ON THEIR FRICKIN KNEES so that you can see jun as he’s singing. How damn creative is that?? And then when jun finishes his line, he in turn bends down so you can see josh, so by the end of the chorus you have this incredible terraced garden of sebongs (lol) and it just makes such a cool image. I really wish I was done talking about this section cause this post is turning into a monster, but unfortunately they keep making cool choices in the postchorus. They really could’ve kept the wrist-touching good to me good to me (ayaya) part the same, but here they use the same cool device. About half the boys do the movements as the others walk around behind them (which is nice in itself, it switches up the formation from how it was in the chorus), and then you guessed it they get down on their knees so you can see the boys behind them for the next good to me good to me. This dance is practically a masterclass in how to use levels in your choreography jfc.

Shout out to them hitting the woah before it was cool in the seconds before this video starts. anyway.

We did it guys we made it to the last chorus and postchorus! In this one they repeat the choreo from the first chorus, and let me tell you why that’s a good choice this time around. Variation is great if you don’t want your dance to be just repetitive and boring, but sometimes if you have too much of it you go to the other extreme and your dance has no structure. You want to have some kind of repeated motif, section, or step in the dance to create a through line for the audience to recognize and connect with. The best dances strike a perfect balance of repetition and variation, so its nice to see these familiar steps again in the last chorus after so much crazy variation. Also the movement is so dang good i just don’t mind seeing it again. And then we get to the last postchorus, and I just love that the movements have stayed the same in this section, but the way its formatted and leveled has been different all three times! So exciting and interesting to watch. They make nice use of their levels again with half the boys on their knees in front and half standing up in the back, yet again giving us a formation with depth and texture. And then to finish the dance we get this amazing moment that tickles me pink every time, where all the boys are on their knees except Vernon and he just SLAMS his hands down on the beat, making it look like he’s the one that made everyone else bend over at the same time. Listen....I kept this analysis structural and theoretical and restrained myself from diving into how I think this whole dance is about power play and kinky stuff but broooo its too good in that moment not to mention. There is all this changing of levels in this dance, all this switching between who’s higher up and who is below them, but in this moment at the end only one person stands tall and it’s clear he’s in charge. What a powerful ending.

Shhh i’m ignoring boo and dk in that moment they gotta stand so they can do pretty adlibs

- When a dance boy casually does pirouettes or other turns on a break because he has extra energy.

- When a boy has longer hair and has to put it up when he’s dancing.

- Ballet boys who don’t let anyone else’s opinion stop them from enjoying their art form.

- Jazz boys who can make any step sultry.

- Hip hop boys who move their feet so fast you can barely follow it.

- When a boy can do the splits.

- Bonus points if drops into them with no warning.

I’m back with more chorus analyses! And also just general commenting on the choreography of the three main songs of YMMDawn era - Getting Closer, Home, and Good to Me

(Part 2 x part 3 x)

So getting closer huh?? Getting closer is a thing that exists! The chorus is very striking to me because it’s actually quite different from their normal style. Svt and their choreographers love dynamics and details: they love contrasting big flowy movements with small intricate movements with fast sharp movements, all in one phrase of music. But just like the music itself of this chorus, this part is not beating around the bush: every movement is in your face, sharp and big. Also as far as svt choruses go it’s pretty straightforward, they’re in one big group doing choreo all in unison (but there’s the nice moment during boo’s line when they all reach away from center that breaks the unison up just enough for it to be interesting). And then! One of my favorite parts of this dance! Them all doing the spinning leap (a barrel jump as I know it called) forward is such a GREAT moment because it uses both the music and their numbers so effectively. In so many of the tight, controlled, sharp movements in the rest of this dance it feels like their anger and aggression is simmering below the surface, fighting to be let out, and in that moment they let themselves go and just come FLYING at the audience in one big group and it’s so exhilarating it knocks your socks off. It’s such good pacing and use of energy. They’re also literally getting closer to the audience, as the lyrics suggest.

So then we come to the second chorus and they make a really nice variation! The choreo is pretty much exactly the same as the first chorus except one thing: they do the first part of it in a circle all facing the middle. And this is such an interesting choice to me? I think one of the core characteristics of the kpop dance style, one of the things that defines it, is how FRONTAL it is. In other, more concert dance forms like ballet and especially modern you’d see more moves done facing different parts of the stage like the back and sides, but in kpop it’s so much about the audience and the cameras and the idols projecting their energy that way. You literally hear them talk about how they’re trained to never turn their backs to the camera if they can help it. So it’s almost daring for svt to make this formation choice! The focus of this moment isn’t the audience but the group itself, almost like they’re hyping themselves up. And I just love that hosh is at the center of the circle, cause who else is hosh during their performances but the endless well of energy that they all draw from when they need it? He’s their sometimes choreographer and performance team leader, but he’s also the heart and soul of who they are as a dancing group, and moments like this really drive that home. It reminds me of the second chorus of thanks where he’s close to the middle of the group and in live performances he just lets out a ROAR before the music drops, you can physically see the way the rest of the group responds to it.

So we get to the last chorus, we’ve built up so much energy over the course of the song, this is the final hurrah, but instead of going super hard or repeating the choreo of the previous choruses, they just kind of...stand there. They did the same thing in don’t wanna cry, and when I see them or other groups do this it looks to me like they’re drinking in the moment, kind of reveling in the energy of the last chorus. I think it’s partially a practical choice lol, this dance is already so physically exhausting and if they had another fast hard sequence in the last chorus they might actually have passed out before they could finish the song. But I think it works structurally too, they just had a crazy dance break so it’s a nice change of pace, it contrasts the music, and is also a good variation from the first two choruses. Another thing I appreciate about it is how it resolves what the lyrics have been saying the whole time - in all of the choruses they sing “breathlessly, breathlessly, breathlessly I want you” (breathless is even the Korean title of the song) and at this point in the dance they are exactly that- breathless. They’re spread out on the stage and for a few seconds they just stand there and breathe, take deep panting inhales, and it brings more intensity to the meaning of the song. So all in all this dance has a great structure! This chorus structure: original chorus - same chorus with formation variation - completely different last chorus, is a very solid way to make sure there’s a through-line in the dance but also that it doesn’t get boring.

Part two of analyzing the dances of ymmdawn era! (Part 1 x part 3 x)

In my post about Getting Closer I talked a bit about Seventeen’s characteristic dance style and how much they like details, and that is never more evident than in Home. The anti-drop part of the music is practically a study in details: a series of fast, intricate, gentle movements which express the song’s theme of care for another person but also insecurity and fear over losing them. I think the steps of this section are so well choreographed because they really makes use of the entire body; in a 20 second period you see them isolate their feet, hands, shoulders, ribs, hips, and elbows in the tiniest ways which is so rich and interesting to watch. This also works because the music is so simple during this parts, so they’re revealing and even creating new dyamics in the sounds. Creating a relationship between the music and the dance is something Svt is particularly good at, which makes sense since the creation of both is so in house and personal. Another thing to point out: this general aspect of their choreography has been talked about at length by other people so I won’t go into it much, but their use of sign language/gestures in their dances has always been beautiful. We get that many times in this dance, from the “roof” home point move to the opening-the-door motion to the upward knocking part. This aspect of their choreos really shows their commitment to emotional storytelling and again integrating the meanings of their songs into the dances.

In terms of overall structure this dance isn’t too complex, but the interesting thing about it is the chorus technically only happens twice. After the second verse wonwoo starts the chorus, but then right before the home home home home part should start, we’re interrupted by the bridge instead.

The bridge is a quick little part but choreographically there’s a lot of nice stuff in it, I really like how when Seungkwan is in the center singing, everyone around him does their gestures away from him, creating a circular effect. I want to talk about levels more in the good to me post, but it’s also nice and adds to the circle effect how the front people are down on their knees for this section. It gives the formation depth, and makes sure you can actually see everyone in this giant group. The use of gesture is continued in this section when they drag their hands across their face as though wiping away tears, and then repeat the upward knocking motion that is used throughout the song.

Sometimes moments with no choreo, moments of stillness, are the best moments. You hear “home home home home” and expect the beat to drop immediately, but instead it suspends for a few seconds and svt simply look up to the sky. It’s simple but it’s also beautiful, emotional, and effective in its simplicity. It’s also a perfect moment to have Chan in the center, because after this moment when he attacks the drop with his characteristic ferocity, it’s the perfect energy for the last chorus. They do the drop section, and with that what is technically still the second run-through of the chorus is now complete, along with the song itself.

I believe the chorus technically only happens twice is the reason why the choreographers chose to keep the steps for both choruses pretty much the same. You don’t get bored of the choreo only seeing it twice, so variation isn’t really necessary. Also I’m going to talk about this more in the good to me post, but it’s important for the choreography of the title track to be memorable, to sort of stick with viewers so repetition is good for that. Then for the choreography of the b-side tracks they have more freedom to get FUNKY and weird with the structure and steps, which is why my post about Good To Me is going to be uh a lot longer lol

Up on my blog here!!

"Scott’s movement vocabulary is a fluid, inspired blend of various styles: street, jazz, musical theater, and beyond. It’s vibrant, joyful, and emotionally impactful all at once. Yet, like the most accomplished musical theater choreography, it supports the action and character development at hand rather than calling attention to itself (as valuable as it is on its own!)."