Choreographer Ryu Jae-joon (RYUD) unveiled the background of the creation of a more interesting choreography.
Ryu Jae-joon is the head of AUSPICE, the largest choreography team in Korea. He also announced a new challenge by joining Hi-Hat, which was officially launched not long ago, as a creative director.
Ryu Jae-joon‘s 10-year career is splendid itself. He worked with top idols such as BTS, NCT, EXO, Super Junior, Girls’ Generation Hyoyeon, GOT7, NU’EST, Seventeen, Pentagon, Kang Daniel, THE BOYZ, Stray Kids and ONF.
Ryu Jae-joon recently met Xports News and expressed his belief in dancing. Ryu Jae-joon, who was in charge of JYP Entertainment‘s Chinese idol group BOY STORY as their first choreography director, smilingly recalled, “Starting with BOY STORY, I choreographed Stray Kids’ Hellevator. It was my first time, so I felt a lot of pressure and responsibility. I stayed up all night a lot.”
He was also in charge of directing choreographies of NCT 2020‘s RESONANCE and NCT 2021‘s Beautiful. Since they are the choreographies that all 23 NCT members have to perform together, there are many things to pay attention to. Among them, RESONANCE is still being talked about as a magnificent performance that maximizes the strengths of a multi-member group.
Ryu Jae-joon revealed the secret behind the birth of the choreography, “RESONANCE took two to three days to organize the members’ movements. The choreography didn’t take long, but if each member’s part changes, it takes a long time to make the formation again. Since there are many members, I used paper cups in an analog way when I first planned the movement. I turned paper cups upside down, wrote the members’ names on the bottom and made the formation with them.”
He then praised NCT, “NCT members are friends I’ve known for a long time. I’ve seen them since they were trainees, so I know their tendencies and dance styles well. Because everyone dances so well, they memorize the choreography and understand my explanations quickly.”
The dancer participated in the “2015 BTS LIVE TRILOGY: EPISODE II. THE RED BULLET” concerts at home and abroad. Ryu Jae-joon said, “BTS members are really sincere on stage. I knew very well that it would go well. After the concert, they always asked the dancers for opinions on the choreography and stage, and I thought it was really cool seeing it. I have infinite respect for them because they’re such a good group.”
Among EXO members, the dancer has a special relationship with Xiumin. To the extent that Xiumin is called the honorary general manager of the Auspicious. Ryu Jae-joon said, “The most memorable person is Xiumin. He was with our crew from the beginning, and because of that, the stages with him are so meaningful. I also made the choreography for his fan meeting before (Xiumin’s) enlistment,” he said, boasting of a strong friendship.
PENTAGON released its new song “Feelin’ Like” in January and held its first No. 1 major music show trophy in five years since its debut. Ryu Jae-joon, who made the choreography of “Fellin’ Like,” said, “I’m close to the PENTAGON members, and I felt really good and happy for them to win first place on public TV this time. “I like Michael Jackson and Chris Brown, so I made the choreography inspired by them this time, and the response was good and I had fun making it, so I worked without any stress,” he said.
He then said, “As I made my favorite style of choreography, it was easy to solve, and the song ‘Feelin’ Like’ was good, and the members learned well, so I think it went smoothly.” “Everything was good in this choreography,” he said, expressing satisfaction.
What does Ryu Jae-joon, who has been working with numerous idol groups, think the most important thing when making choreography is? “It’s the analysis of the members’ tendencies,” he said adding, “We’re trying to figure out each member’s style and what fans want.” “There are also narratives of what fans like, and I do a lot of research to figure them out,” he said.
