You simply can’t have a great K-pop comeback without eye-catching choreography. With each passing year, it’s become more vital to the industry. Dance routines are excellent for a variety of reasons, ranging from intricate “how did they do that?!?” moments to simple point moves that become trendy touchstones. This list covers both of these extremes and everything in between.
10. SEVENTEEN – ANYONE
You know Seventeen has to make it on any choreography list, right? This year, my favorite routine wasn’t in support of an actual title track. Anyone‘s clean, stomping moves lend the song tons of power and take advantage of the group’s large configuration.
9. HOSHI – SPIDER
From full group to soloist, Spider‘s choreography is all about Hoshi himself. The use of props will always score bonus points from me, and Spider‘s bars give Hoshi the ability to hang and twirl and generally compel viewers’ attention.
8. ONEUS – BLACK MIRROR
Taking cues from the song’s Michael Jackson inspired concept, Black Mirror‘s choreography is a blast to watch. We’ve got moonwalking, wrist flourishes and an indefatigable sense of showmanship. There’s just so much to see.
7. STAYC – ASAP
When compiling this list, I try to think of the point moves that were most iconic in 2021. ASAP‘s kneading (?) arm movement will certainly go down as a popular cover dance for years to come, highlighting the song’s fun, quirky energy.
6. GOLDEN CHILD – BURN IT
Burn It‘s choreo emphasizes each resounding thud of percussion within the track. It’s a powerful routine, yet knows when to slow things down to channel the emotion driving the melody. The point move in the chorus is also super memorable.
5. ENHYPEN – TAMED-DASHED
ENHYPEN have already proven themselves an excellent troupe of dancers, and exuberant choreo like Tamed-Dashed reinforces that. I love the contrast between angular and smooth in the chorus, highlighted by an eye-catching point move.
4. KEY – BAD LOVE
Bad Love is consistently powerful, and its choreography follows suit. The attention is always on Key, with a series of larger-than-life movements. But, it’s the commanding performance during the song’s chorus that really seals the deal. It’s simple, memorable and very effective.
3. SUNMI – TAIL
Tail‘s routine beguiles with an approach that feels inspired by burlesque. Sunmi is all over the place, crawling and weaving and always stealing the show. But, the “cat tail” leg formations vault this to another level entirely, resulting in memorable imagery that enhances the track.
2. AESPA – NEXT LEVEL
Not all of Next Level is super compelling (there’s a lot of fancy walking), but none of that matters because aespa delivered the point move of 2021. If this year in K-pop will be remembered for anything, it’ll be that arm-bending, face-framing hook. It’ll be copied for years by every idol on every variety show.
1. ONLYONEOF – LIBIDO
OnlyOneOf offered the most striking routine of 2021. Every aspect of this comeback built upon the song’s theme, mood and energy, but libidO‘s no-holds-barred choreo best illustrated its striking power. From a threatening crawl to a forceful grasp, this was a dance too risqué to exist on weekly music shows without editing. OnlyOneOf pull it off with good nature and a tongue-in-cheek glee that urges viewers to let down their guard and join the bacchanal.
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Would put Ra Pam Pam here: that part in the chorus with the row move is EXTREMELY satisfying.
IM ON THE NEXT LEVEL is iconic 😀
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My college club did a performance of black mirror- the choreography is fun as hell to do. I would place Luna ad a close second to it because aesthetically Luna is more pleasing to the eye with the fans. However, black mirror is too funky not to love.
As for girl groups, stereotype by StayC is pretty satisfying. Especially the first verse.
I agree with OnlyOneOf taking the top spot. That dance embodies their concept perfectly. Couldn’t convince my club to cover it though 🤣 A little too spicy I suppose
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How were your knees after that one move? It’s brilliant but I still kind of hold my breath cause it looks like it hurts.
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I am months late to responding to this- but better late than never.
The first time hurt A LOT because I had no technique. However, once I learned to squeeze my thighs more to reduce the impact of my knees on the ground- it hurt significantly less. In fact, it became harder to get up rather than get down soon. The down part became easy lol. It’s been a few months since I had to do it, but I have a feeling I could whip it out.
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Spider is incredible. Anyone just makes me think I’d break my knee while attempting to do it.
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Spider is the performance I show friends who like dance but aren’t into kpop. It has not yet failed to impress.
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A lot of my favorites overlapped with yours. I also loved Taemin’s Advice. I thought those tiny controlled movements in NCT 127’s Favorite were stellar, and I can’t forget Kai giving Xiumin dance CPR in Don’t Fight the Feeling.
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Also, I heard OOOs “slap heard around the world” was not omitted from music shows for censorship reasons but because one of the guys got too enthusiastic in practice and his partner had to recover for a few days.
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This is…wow
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For some reason, it seems like the most OnlyOneOf thing ever. The cheer video for libidO is also one of the most chaotic things I’ve seen this year.
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Hilarious as that is, I’m skeptical – the rope moves got modified on some of the shows too, as did the near-kiss pass after the grab.
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Libido is a very deserving number 1 indeed. I would’ve added some of the Pixy choreos from this year, loved their creative formations. I do remember watching a lot of Bad Love performances as well, mainly because of the F4 girls from SWF lmao.
Sidenote… I’m curious if the whole backup dancer trend will continue. With the popularity of Street Woman Fighter, these girls have more eyes on them than most idols do. It could be a smart way to promote a group’s song I suppose
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pixy’s bewitched choreo is such a work of art with all the floorwork and creepy twisting motions
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I love how Libido is in the top three of almost every top 10 list this year. It deserves it.
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The dancing is personally a super important part of my enjoyment of K-pop! I love watching choreo and I learn a lot of dances (it’s basically how I exercise at this point…gotta have something fun to motivate me 😂). Here are some of my favourites this year:
STAYC – Stereotype: Love all of STAYC’s choreos, honestly. I’ve always liked asymmetrical formations and creative travelling/transitions, and STAYC’s choreos use those in spades – the 1st verse of Stereotype is particularly great as another commenter mentioned.
Hoshi – Spider: Just love the way he uses the bars and how he’s pulled through the “web” by the backup dancers.
Sunmi – Tail: The tail images with the backup dancers are spectacular! The whole dance is very dynamic to me as well.
aespa – Next Level: ㄷ
Stray Kids – Thunderous: A nice mix of fun/silly and epic for me, I loved watching the stages for this
Weeekly – After School: Skateboards! Rolly chairs! So cute, so many interactions between the members, it’s just very fun.
Everglow – First: Amazing intro, and just a generally very hard-hitting, epic choreo. I also really like Pirate!
Other favourites:
Twice – Alcohol Free
Seventeen – Rock With You
Loona – PTT
Dreamcatcher – Odd Eye
Enhypen – Tamed-Dashed
Any Pixy choreo (not a fan of them, but from what I’ve seen of their choreos they’re all creative, unique, have cool transitions, and lots of floorwork)
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if/when svt disbands hoshi needs to start a dance crew or something like that he’s so talented in dance it would be a shame if he didnt
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I’m too tired to go into why Kang Daniel’s “Paranoia” is top of my choreo list (I’ve gushed about that song in other countdowns enough I think), but I would also include PINK FANTASY’s “Poison”, bugAboo “bugAboo”, BDC “Moon Walk” (if only for the opening formation and for actually including a moon walk), ONEUS “Shut Up 받고 Crazy Hot!”, and SF9’s “Move” performance on KINGDOM.
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