Meet 10 Of The Choreographers Behind BTS’s Greatest Dances
BTS has some of the most creative and challenging choreographies on the K-Pop scene right now, but many fans have no idea who masterminds these dances. Over the years, BTS has worked with some of the best dance artists in the world, and this is who they are.
1. Son Sungdeuk
Son Sungdeuk is Big Hit Entertainment’s performance director, and he has been with BTS since the very beginning.
He choreographed most of BTS’s early dance routines, like “Danger”…
…and can be spotted in some of their rookie dance practice videos. In this 2013 video, Son Sungdeuk filled in for Suga while Suga was in the hospital.
From 2013 until now, he has created many of fans’ favorite BTS dance hits, including “I Need U”…
…and “Run”.
Now ARMY knows who to thank for this memorable jacket move!
Even when Son Sungdeuk is not creating full choreographies, he is still involved with the overall process. He has been credited with overseeing the “choreography and performance” in many of BTS’s music videos, including the ones for “Not Today” and “DNA”.
Son Sungdeuk was one of the first K-Pop choreographers to tour the US with workshops, and has also given workshops in Europe, Asia, and Japan.
On an episode of Rookie King, Jungkook jokingly called Son Sungdeuk out for making BTS’s lives difficult by constantly changing the choreography. This student-teacher team has certainly come a long way from this…
…to this!
When Son Sungdeuk won “The Style of This Year” award at the Gaon Chart Music Awards, BTS couldn’t have been more proud of him!
Son Sungdeuk said that he loves working with BTS because he and the group mesh so well together.
2. Keone Madrid and Mari Madrid
This husband and wife team are famous in the choreography community.
They appeared as choreographers on So You Think You Can Dance and The Ellen Show, and have been nominated for dance awards.
Keone Madrid is responsible for several of BTS’s newer dance routines, like “Dope”…
…”Not Today…
…and “Fire”.
He also co-created the dance for “DNA” with choreographer Christopher Martin…
…and both “Singularity” and “Blood Sweat & Tears” with The Quick Style Crew.
Keone Madrid and his dancers do not teach BTS their choreography in person. Instead, they record each routine and then send the recording to BTS for the members to learn from.
The Madrids have also created fantastic routines for other K-Pop acts, including GOT7, VIXX, 2PM, 2NE1, MONSTA X, BIGBANG, and more. In short, they only work with the best!
3. David Lim
David Lim is the founder and director of GRV, a competitive dance crew based in California.
He has not been as heavily involved in BTS’s choreography as Keone Madrid or Son Sungdesuk, but he did choreograph “Boy in Luv”, one of BTS’s most popular early hits.
In this video, David Lim dances with GRV to the demo version of “Boy in Luv”.
4. Dylan Mayoral
Like David Lim, Dylan Mayoral is the member of a dance crew, Boyband.
He has competed on dance shows, including Got to Dance (2014) and Britain’s Got Talent (2015).
He was responsible for choreographing J-Hope‘s “Boy Meets Evil” solo for the WINGS comeback trailer.
5. Quick Style Crew
Quick Style Crew is a hip-hop dance crew from Norway that consists of Suleman Malik, Bilal Malik, and Nasir Sirikhan.
These talented dancers/choreographers created the moves for “Save Me”…
…and co-created “Blood Sweat & Tears” with Keone Madrid.
6. Carlo Darang
Carlo Darang and Keone Madrid have both been co-directors of a crew that has become famous in the dance world, Choreo Cookies.
Carlo Darang also invests his time as a personal dance instructor at a private studio, Building Block (founded by Keone and Mari Madrid).
Carlo Darang was the assistant choreographer for “Dope”.
Had the amazing opportunity to assist @KeoneMadrid with choreographing for @BTS_twt new video "Dope". Check it out! https://t.co/V9rF0i9iIF
— Carlo Darang (@CarloDarang) July 10, 2015
7. Christopher Martin
Christopher Martin has gained international acclaim, teaching regularly at workshops and studios in over 40 countries and states. Like Carlos Darang, Christopher Martin is a member of internationally renowned team Choreo Cookies and an instructor at Building Block.
He contributed to the “DNA” choreography.
8. Markus Pe Benito
Markus Pe Benito is the co-founder of SYNCHRONICITY pathcrossers, a platform and collective for artists. According to the group’s official YouTube channel, it is a dance-based collective but experiments in other artistic areas as well.
Markus Pe Benito was responsible for creating the dance routine for “Lie”, Jimin‘s emotive WINGS solo.
9. Rie Hata
This hip-hop dancer and choreographer leads a Japan-based dance crew called Queen of Swag.
Rie Hata is the genius behind the choreography for “Anpanman”…
…and “Airplane pt. 2”!
She also co-created the “MIC Drop” dance with Lyle Beniga.
She has worked with CL, U-Kwon (Block B), Red Velvet, and more. In fact, she played a key role in transforming Red Velvet from cute to edgy with her choreography for “Bad Boy”.
In addition to dancing, she also created her own fashion brand called Qoffee Shop.
10. BONUS: Jin
BTS created this ridiculous, and much loved, music video for “Spine Breaker” back in 2017. Jin is credited as being the MV’s dance director!
