BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Rino Nakasone is an internationally-famous choreographer and dancer. She has been known to appear in music videos and concerts with Britney Spears and Justin Bieber, but she is more known in the Korean Pop world as the dancing machine behind most of Korean entertainment ‘SM Entertainment’s choreographies. She has created countless whole dances solely for various of the most popular idol groups in korea. Some of her works include:
SHINee: Noona Neomu Yeppeo (Replay), Love Like Oxygen, Juliette, Hello; Lucifer
Girls’ Generation: Tell Me Your Wish (Genie), Oh!, Hoot
Super Junior: No Other (with Maryss from Paris)
BoA: Dangerous, Copy and Paste
Kangta: Love Frequency
f(x): Chu (song), Nu ABO
TVXQ: Maximum, Keep Your Head Down
EXCLUSIVE FANGIRL DIARIES INTERVIEW
Girls’ Generation: Tell Me Your Wish (Genie), Oh!, Hoot
Super Junior: No Other (with Maryss from Paris)
BoA: Dangerous, Copy and Paste
Kangta: Love Frequency
f(x): Chu (song), Nu ABO
TVXQ: Maximum, Keep Your Head Down
EXCLUSIVE FANGIRL DIARIES INTERVIEW
[From the DREAM ON! K-Pop Dance Festa in Shibuya, where she was a special guest performer]
Interviewee: Of course the fans love all your work, but if you had to pick just one from all your KPop projects, which one would be your favorite choreography to date and why?
Rino: 산소 같은 너 (Love Like Oxygen) by SHINee. When I first heard the song, I loved it so much because it had so much of a Michael Jackson flavor. So I couldn’t help but make a choreography that had so much MJ influence, which I love.
Interviewee: The Beat Freakz have always been very vocal about encouraging girls to dance – how does it feel to see so many girls learning and performing you choreographies, like at “DREAM ON!”? Why do you think they appeal so much to girls, some who might not have been interested in dancing beforehand?
Rino: It’s an honor because that’s how I practice dance, watching all the idols and their choreography. I think K-Pop has a lot of elements of how entertainment used to be back in the day, with MJ, Janet Jackson, TLC and MC Hammer. They made us wanna do what they did because it’s so attractive. My opinion of why Girls’ Generation is so popular in Japan is not only [because] there were no other artists like them, but also [because] they are role models of what the Japanese girls wanna be. Also, Girls’ Generation entertains with great music and catchy choreography.
Interviewee: We’re curious about the process and work that goes into choreographing; for example with a group like SHINee, who you’ve worked closely with since debut, do you keep in mind the members’ individual strengths and weaknesses, or do you focus on creating a visual expression for the song itself?
Rino: I always consider each artist’s style and strengths, but mainly I just listen to the songs – I want to make the music come alive through choreography.
Interviewee: You’re holding a series of workshops here in Tokyo during your visit, and one of the dances you’ll be teaching is for DBSK’s 왜 (Keep Your Head Down) – easily one of the most anticipated comebacks of the year. How would you describe your experience working on this particular choreography?
Rino: The choreography for 왜 was actually a collaboration with three other Korean choreographers (e.g. BeatBurger etc). I enjoyed working with them. I think when collaborating there are a lot of unknown possibilities as to how the work will come out, and I love that.
Interviewee: You’re known to give dance workshops in LA/US and now in Japan, do you have any plans on visiting any other countries to give workshops? And do you have any tips for for those who are unable to attend workshops but still want to learn the choreographies?
Rino: I would love to teach in as many countries as possible, just bring me out there! And whoever can’t learn from me, just keep watching the footage and try your best. Pay attention to the details! Also study all the different artists because even when they’re doing same choreography, they all have their own distinct styles you can learn from.
Interviewee: What would be your craziest dream KPop project — like, maybe you would want to collaborate and perform with ANY KPop artist on a non-Kpop song, or even like a huge mash-up collab with the Beat Freakz — what would it be and why? Anything under the KPop sun — the sky’s the limit!!!
Rino: My dream is to perform with SHINee! It would be great if we could do it with the Beat Freaks; it could be their songs or just [a] straight-up dance performance! Who knows, it could be me singing with SHINee too~!
Also I want do project with Girls’ Generation and Beat Freaks; since we’re both 9-member, all-women groups it would be funny to switch roles, and maybe do some skits.
With The GEMINIZ, the duo I perform in with Maryss from Paris, I would like to do a project with DBSK’s [Yunho and Changmin].
Oh, and with BoA, I would love to just dance our asses off with the Beat Freaks and perform for a concert or MV – to show girl power, and women who can dance better than men!
Interviewee: What more can we expect to see from you in K-Pop 2011?, Both SHINee and SNSD are working in Japan this year, any chances of seeing more of your work here?
Rino: I don’t know for now but I am always there when they need me! I love them!
Interviewee: Of course the fans love all your work, but if you had to pick just one from all your KPop projects, which one would be your favorite choreography to date and why?
Rino: 산소 같은 너 (Love Like Oxygen) by SHINee. When I first heard the song, I loved it so much because it had so much of a Michael Jackson flavor. So I couldn’t help but make a choreography that had so much MJ influence, which I love.
Interviewee: The Beat Freakz have always been very vocal about encouraging girls to dance – how does it feel to see so many girls learning and performing you choreographies, like at “DREAM ON!”? Why do you think they appeal so much to girls, some who might not have been interested in dancing beforehand?
Rino: It’s an honor because that’s how I practice dance, watching all the idols and their choreography. I think K-Pop has a lot of elements of how entertainment used to be back in the day, with MJ, Janet Jackson, TLC and MC Hammer. They made us wanna do what they did because it’s so attractive. My opinion of why Girls’ Generation is so popular in Japan is not only [because] there were no other artists like them, but also [because] they are role models of what the Japanese girls wanna be. Also, Girls’ Generation entertains with great music and catchy choreography.
Interviewee: We’re curious about the process and work that goes into choreographing; for example with a group like SHINee, who you’ve worked closely with since debut, do you keep in mind the members’ individual strengths and weaknesses, or do you focus on creating a visual expression for the song itself?
Rino: I always consider each artist’s style and strengths, but mainly I just listen to the songs – I want to make the music come alive through choreography.
Interviewee: You’re holding a series of workshops here in Tokyo during your visit, and one of the dances you’ll be teaching is for DBSK’s 왜 (Keep Your Head Down) – easily one of the most anticipated comebacks of the year. How would you describe your experience working on this particular choreography?
Rino: The choreography for 왜 was actually a collaboration with three other Korean choreographers (e.g. BeatBurger etc). I enjoyed working with them. I think when collaborating there are a lot of unknown possibilities as to how the work will come out, and I love that.
Interviewee: You’re known to give dance workshops in LA/US and now in Japan, do you have any plans on visiting any other countries to give workshops? And do you have any tips for for those who are unable to attend workshops but still want to learn the choreographies?
Rino: I would love to teach in as many countries as possible, just bring me out there! And whoever can’t learn from me, just keep watching the footage and try your best. Pay attention to the details! Also study all the different artists because even when they’re doing same choreography, they all have their own distinct styles you can learn from.
Interviewee: What would be your craziest dream KPop project — like, maybe you would want to collaborate and perform with ANY KPop artist on a non-Kpop song, or even like a huge mash-up collab with the Beat Freakz — what would it be and why? Anything under the KPop sun — the sky’s the limit!!!
Rino: My dream is to perform with SHINee! It would be great if we could do it with the Beat Freaks; it could be their songs or just [a] straight-up dance performance! Who knows, it could be me singing with SHINee too~!
Also I want do project with Girls’ Generation and Beat Freaks; since we’re both 9-member, all-women groups it would be funny to switch roles, and maybe do some skits.
With The GEMINIZ, the duo I perform in with Maryss from Paris, I would like to do a project with DBSK’s [Yunho and Changmin].
Oh, and with BoA, I would love to just dance our asses off with the Beat Freaks and perform for a concert or MV – to show girl power, and women who can dance better than men!
Interviewee: What more can we expect to see from you in K-Pop 2011?, Both SHINee and SNSD are working in Japan this year, any chances of seeing more of your work here?
Rino: I don’t know for now but I am always there when they need me! I love them!
