What Makes PSY’s Choreography “Addicting” – According To Dancers
There’s no denying that PSY is an artist who tends to release upbeat songs that have viral dances.
In a continuation of STEEZY‘s YouTube series of dancers and choreographers reacting to K-Pop performances, dancers Clay Boonthanakit and Dominique David watched the music video for PSY’s recent comeback, featuring BTS‘s Suga, “That That.”
“That That” has had immense success, with the music video surpassing 100 million views within a single week of its release and the song debuting on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
So, understandably, both Clay and Dominique were impressed watching the performance, specifically focusing on the energetic dancing scenes.
Specifically, they focus on “how unconventional” PSY’s dancing style is, which they attribute as one of his strongest selling points for his performances.
Clay: I notice how unconventional a lot of these moves are right off the bat. That’s what makes these things iconic, right?
Dominique: I think it’s interesting that you mention that [the movements are] unconventional. Because I feel like a lot of his movements are based in really pedestrian activity. And then they make them into dance, which is what’s so addicting. And so you see that [dance] and you’re like, “Oh, I read that as going outside.” But it’s got that PSY oomf and it feels engaged and entertaining.
Clay: It’s pedestrian with commitment. And that’s kind of what dance is.
In other words, Clay and Dominique focus a lot on PSY’s absolute commitment to dancing, his high levels of energy, and big movements, which are what they feel make his dances so “addicting.” As opposed to if he were to over-complicated his dances.
I feel like people over-complicate dance. And they’re like “You’ve got to hit a move.” But a move is nothing but a really committed pose or movement.
-Clay
But even though PSY completely commits to his dance moves, Dominique points out that his choreography is still cleverly arranged to have gradually increasing energy.
Dominique: I also like the progression. We’re building energy. It started with just poses and sitting in [the poses]… And now we’re like…
Clay: He’s forcing you to catch the groove that’s building in the music.
And Clay even suggests that part of the charm of the movements is simply the fact that they’re so different from what choreographies typically look like.
It is so different. The movements are so different from anything that you see in media, not just K-Pop, in media overall.
-Clay
But, above all, both Clay and Dominique agree that PSY’s over-the-top commitment is what truly sells his dancing.
Dominique: [The choreography is] super simple but really effective because it’s over-the-top commitment to something that’s kind of corny, kind of cheesy, but it just feels fun.
Clay: It goes back to that commitment.
Dominique: Yeah and I think that’s PSY’s power as an entertainer. And the times that I’ve seen him live, he’s just so committed to the bit that I’m like, “This is so fun. I’m having a great time.” And that energy building, in the song and his production, it’s just [an] earworm. You’re going to be addicted [to the song].
“That That,” I like it, you know?
-Dominique
You can watch the music video for “That That” here.
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