Anze Skrube, ATEEZ’s Choreographer, Joins The Conversation About “Say My Name” Choreography Plagiarism
Street Man Fighter contestant Vata has recently been caught up in a plagiarism scandal, which ATEEZ‘s Wooyoung has been praised for seemingly calling out on stage. Vata’s choreography that he was challenged to make for Zico‘s song “New Thing” — which ended up placing first in the challenge — includes a move that’s pretty much identical to the iconic “driving” dance move in ATEEZ’s “Say My Name”, leading to fans calling him out.
vata needs to apologize to ateez + the og choreographers and credit them
SAY MY NAME#driving_dance_challenge #SayMyName_ATEEZ #ATEEZ #에이티즈 @ATEEZofficial pic.twitter.com/SHICBYRgzN
— illumi’s needle is seeing ATZ (@WHORESCOPE_1117) October 10, 2022
The “silent” statement that Wooyoung made was during the group’s performance at 2022 KCON Saudi Arabia, in which during the dance break for “The Real” he performed the “biting” gesture that has long been used in the dancing community to call someone out for stealing choreography. Immediately after, he did a short version of the “driving” dance, further showing his intentions in calling Vata out.
that move he did at the beginning, dancers use it to indicate its copied/stolen. 5000 used it in smf during one of the battles. wooyoung doing this move and then doing the driving dance. they know 😭 pic.twitter.com/GX1uFaL5qO
— dee (@azfxon) October 9, 2022
He also did the “biting” gesture at another time, along with some of the dance moves from the “New Thing” choreography.
HOLD ON HE CALLED THEM OUT TWICE he was doing the new things/saebbing choreo and then did the copy move. how did i never notice 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/n4knhf3C2n
— dee (@azfxon) October 9, 2022
Wooyoung is being praised for his clear stance on the plagiarism accusations, and his refusal to ignore the issue is being supported by Anze Skrube, one of the choreographers of “Say My Name” himself!
This video on bilibili talked about SMN being plagiarized and how wooyoung respond to it. The majority of the comments are asking who’s the one that did the biting move and will be on ateez’s side. They are calling wooyoung “勇哥” which means brave man that 勇 read as young. pic.twitter.com/So9YMbKV5S
— _ (@pluvioen) October 10, 2022
WOOYOUNG IS A KING FOR DOING THIS, TELL THEM pic.twitter.com/jg3xwR34fS
— 🏴 (@NotBonkyP) October 9, 2022
the choreographers personally commenting on the situation, smn reaching #1 worldwide, k-tinys and i-tinys actually working together, wooyoung saying he will protect us, & our fanbases working with anze to bring the attention back to ateez?! this all feels so unreal 😭
— bea the yeodoongie (@YE0LOVEBOT) October 10, 2022
Anze has taken to social media — specifically, his Instagram stories — to join the conversation about the “driving” dance move plagiarism. Most of what he shared on his story are reposts from others showing their support of Wooyoung, ATEEZ, and their choreographers, as well as calling out Vata for the issue.
His stories included the video that has been going around explaining what “biting” is…
Along with confusion over why Vata, who was apparently supposed to be a friend of ATEEZ member San, would seemingly plagiarize their choreography.
It seems that he’s been reading messages he received letting him know about the ongoing issue, and agrees with what has been said.
Finally, he also shared videos of ATEEZ — specifically Wooyoung — performing “Say My Name” live, showing just how much he supports him and the members through this frustrating time!
Along with the posts on his Instagram stories, Anze even reshared the original choreography video for “Say My Name” on his Instagram account, which was originally posted back in January 2019.
View this post on Instagram
It’s clear to see from the actions and reactions from ATEEZ’s members and their choreographers that they definitely have each other’s backs, and we love seeing them showing appreciation and support for each other! There has still not been a response from Vata or Street Man Fighter regarding the plagiarism accusations at this time.
