One of my reclusive hobbies that's never been shared to anyone is watching dance videos. It's not that I want to become a dancer, I'm just incredibly amazed with the way some people can make a stunning, breath-taking performance by simply coordinating their graceful or powerful motion with music. After watching hundreds of dance videos, I now have my own favorites like Jabbawockeez, GRV and Choreo Cookies but I'm also looking forward for new players that will shake up the very foundation of current dance competition.
Suffice to say, my dream comes true during Vibe 17 Dance Competition held in UCI Bren Events Center on January 29, 2012. Looking at the list of participants, I'm attracted to a dance crew named 'Kaori Alive' which comes from Japan and has no male dancers. Wow, that's new. As I'm not a US citizen, I can only see their performance through Youtube and after spending five to six minutes to watch their entire choreography... well, saying that I was gaping like a fish would be an understatement.
Unlike other dance crews whose performances are dominated by hip-hop moves, Kaori Alive's performance is more like a ballet show that takes a wrong turn. Its opening is quite creepy, what's with people wearing body suits engulfing a girl that on my first impression, moves and dresses like Sadako. The transition part, while not creepy, takes a long time that really tempts me to skip forward. I decide to hold back though, and my patience is paid off when on third minute their body starts moving quickly with precision that makes me all 'woooow' and 'ooooh' until the end of the show. They have marvelous choreography, great technique, smooth moves, perfect choice of costume and yes, they truly deserve the third position!
It turns out that they tell stories of Japan's tsunami behind their whole choreography. Everything simply clicks then: it explains the opening's creepiness, transition's long duration and the 'dark' background music. I feel so bad for condemning the girl wearing white dress during the opening as Sadako (and labeling people wearing body suits as creepy crowd) and want to apologize through this blog. Second attempt of watching opens my eyes that every move during the opening actually tells more story than the final part, I'm just too stupid and dense to not realize it sooner.
Enough with the guilt I think. In short, Kaori Alive now has become one of my favorites and I'm eager to watch more performance from them. Keep dancing! (and please upload your performance to Youtube so I can watch them)
Suffice to say, my dream comes true during Vibe 17 Dance Competition held in UCI Bren Events Center on January 29, 2012. Looking at the list of participants, I'm attracted to a dance crew named 'Kaori Alive' which comes from Japan and has no male dancers. Wow, that's new. As I'm not a US citizen, I can only see their performance through Youtube and after spending five to six minutes to watch their entire choreography... well, saying that I was gaping like a fish would be an understatement.
Go take a look. Kudos to Pacific Rim Video for uploading this video to Youtube.
Unlike other dance crews whose performances are dominated by hip-hop moves, Kaori Alive's performance is more like a ballet show that takes a wrong turn. Its opening is quite creepy, what's with people wearing body suits engulfing a girl that on my first impression, moves and dresses like Sadako. The transition part, while not creepy, takes a long time that really tempts me to skip forward. I decide to hold back though, and my patience is paid off when on third minute their body starts moving quickly with precision that makes me all 'woooow' and 'ooooh' until the end of the show. They have marvelous choreography, great technique, smooth moves, perfect choice of costume and yes, they truly deserve the third position!
It turns out that they tell stories of Japan's tsunami behind their whole choreography. Everything simply clicks then: it explains the opening's creepiness, transition's long duration and the 'dark' background music. I feel so bad for condemning the girl wearing white dress during the opening as Sadako (and labeling people wearing body suits as creepy crowd) and want to apologize through this blog. Second attempt of watching opens my eyes that every move during the opening actually tells more story than the final part, I'm just too stupid and dense to not realize it sooner.
Enough with the guilt I think. In short, Kaori Alive now has become one of my favorites and I'm eager to watch more performance from them. Keep dancing! (and please upload your performance to Youtube so I can watch them)
