About JTBC Why Not The Dancer?
Why Not The Dancer? is a variety show where the idols (the K-Pop groups’ main dancers) go to Los Angeles to meet popular dancers and choreographers to make new choreography for foreign artists like Beyoncé, Jessi J, Bruno Mars, Chris Brown, and many more. The program aired on Saturdays at 8:30 p.m. KST started on May 5, 2018, and finished on June 16, 2018, with total 8 episodes. The main hosts of the shows are none other than the main dancers of well-known K-Pop groups. They are HIGHLIGHT’s Kikwang, Super Junior’s Eunhyuk, and SHINee’s Taemin. In addition, NCT’s Jisung also joined them on episodes 4-7 while G.O.D’s Joonhyung appeared on episodes 4-5.
The story in Los Angeles
Eunhyuk, Kikwang, Taemin, and Jisung made a lot of memories during their several-day stay in Los Angeles. Eunhyuk and Kikwang, who arrived there first, got to choose their own room and went out to eat delicious food at Eggslut. They also experienced a new challenge, dancing in heels, with Lia Kim and Brian Friedman. The next day, Eunhyuk decided to make breakfast for both of them. He was inspired by Eggslut, so he made toast with scrambled eggs and ham. After that, they went to the Kinjaz Dojo Studio, a famous dance studio, to continue practicing their choreography before making their first video. They chose a spot in the Art District and recorded their first video there. Meanwhile, back at their house, Jisung arrived and prepared dinner for his hyungs. After a couple of hours, the duo arrived at the home and found Jisung, then ate dinner together. Later on, they finally sent out their dance video to many foreign artists.
On the third day, it was Kikwang who cooked breakfast. He made an American-style breakfast with toast, sunny side up fried eggs, and bacon. They talked about G.O.D’s Junhyung, who contacted them the previous night. They went to meet up with Junhyung in Santa Monica since they needed inspiration for their second video. Later, unexpectedly, they were contacted by Warner Brothers and one of its artists wanted to meet them after watching the video they had sent before. None of the dance crews could believe it and thought it was a prank until a real person finally entered the room. It was Gallant, a popular foreign singer and songwriter. Later that night, Taemin arrived at the house after doing his concert in Chile.
The next day, they practiced for their second video and got a message from Lia Kim asking them to make a K-Pop dance class with her. They decided to go and taught 100 students in the class. After that, Taemin got a surprise from his choreographer for his solo song Danger, Ian Eastwood. Ian also made a special dance class with them. The next day, they went to Kinjaz Dojo Studio but were surprised when they found someone in the room. It was Melvin TimTim, a hip-hop dancer, who gave a hip-hop dance class and made a performance video with them. They spent the rest of the day shopping. Eunhyuk showed his generosity by buying Taemin and Kikwang some clothes. Later at night, they made a birthday surprise for Kikwang. It was revealed that Jisung was the one who prepared the cake and bought presents for Kikwang. It was the last night they spent together in LA.
Eunhyuk, Kikwang, and Jisung went back to Korea in the morning, while Taemin had to prepare his solo dance video. He practiced for a while at the studio and did the filming at the place where he had filmed a music video before. That night, he tried to cook for himself. It was worrying knowing that he could not cook, but he managed to make sushi with meat and shared it with the staff. The next day he went back to Korea.
A lot of things happened from their recruitment time in LA until they went back to Korea. Let’s check the details below! Crew Recruitment
In the first episode, they showed how the dance crews were recruited. They were only Eunhyuk and Kikwang at the beginning, and they had a meeting with the production team for the program. The PD gave them a brief explanation about the program and what they were going to do. Eunhyuk and Kikwang were excited because it was their dream and they felt they had come further with it since they had been debuted. However, when the PD talked about what they were going to make and for whom, both of the main dancers were surprised and didn’t believe it at all until Eunhyuk took the paper from the PD. It was still unbelievable for them, and the idols seemed excited and nervous about what they were going to do.
Additional Crew?
Still, in the same episode, Kikwang and Eunhyuk were required to make a choreography video. Kikwang went to the SM Entertainment building to meet Eunhyuk at the dance practice room. Kikwang was amazed and wondered whether his agency’s building would one day become as big as SM’s. Eunhyuk was already in the room and showed off the equipment for their dance practice. They were considering Chris Brown’s songs since Eunhyuk originally liked him, or slow songs, like Ed Sheeran’s, before finally settling on using Justin Timberlake’s Filthy. They started off by listening to the song and trying to come up with dance moves. After a bit, Eunhyuk said that they could not concentrate well because they were being watched by the staff, so the staff decided to leave them alone with a camera.
Someone entered the room and it was Henry Lau, who was still a member of Super Junior M (Chinese-based sub-unit of Super Junior) at the time. He suggested that Eunhyuk change the style because it was too old. That was when both of the boys thought of adding another dance crew to help them. After thorough consideration of all of SM’s dancers, they decided to ask Taemin to join them.
Behind The Camera of The First Dance Video
Still having trouble making their first dance video, Eunhyuk and Kikwang decided to meet a famous choreographer from 1Million Dance Studio, Lia Kim. They came to the studio and asked her opinion about the dance moves they had come up with and she gave them useful feedback that allowed them to refine the routine they were working on. However, Eunhyuk needed to go to Japan for his D&E concert, making him feel uneasy about the choreography. He still practiced the choreography after he finished practicing for the concert, even though Donghae interrupted him several times.
In the third episode, the day came when they had to film their dance video and they headed to Kinjaz Dojo Studio. Along the way, Eunhyuk and Kikwang shared about their members and how they always remember them every time. At the studio, they started practicing and Eunhyuk came up with a formation and new moves to make it more interesting. Eunhyuk was a little worried because he’s the type to improvise, while Kikwang’s the type to memorize as he practices, which can make improvisation a challenge for him. After practicing, they went to the art district to find a spot for their filming. While they were scouting the area, Eunhyuk reminisced about the time when he and Donghae recorded their single Let’s Get It On at some spots around the district. They went to a wide rooftop on a building with a fascinating view of the district behind. Considering the cameraman could move easily in the large space and the background was good, they decided to do the filming there. They set up their equipment and got ready to film.
It was a one-take video, so if they made a mistake they had to do it all over again from the beginning. On the first take, Eunhyuk made a mistake where he had to move behind Kikwang. It was a move that they changed at the last minute at the dance studio that day. He repeated the same mistake a couple of times and felt sorry, especially towards Kikwang. They took a break and then shot the sixth take, successfully getting through the routine without any more issues. However, after checking the video twice, Kikwang was unsatisfied with his moves and they decided to shoot it again. Eunhyuk made several suggestions for the cameraman to get a better angle for some particular moves. At the end of the episode, they showed the final video of the choreography. The video was meant to be spread to foreign artists later.
First ‘Heel’ Dance Class
Eunhyuk and Kikwang went to LA in the second episode. After eating at Eggslut, they headed to a studio where Lia Kim was having a dance class with Brian Friedman, who had choreographed for Britney Spears, Beyoncé, and Mariah Carey. It was a ‘heel’ dance class where the students had to wear high heels to dance. After meeting Lia and Brian in the class, they were asked to change their shoes to heels. Hesitantly, they slowly put on the heels that Lia Kim brought them. After a little shuffling around, all three men found heels that fit them and were ready. They decided to change the shoes later after learning the choreography.
First, Lia and Brian demonstrated the dance moves to the class in heels. Then the class was instructed one by one move. Both boys did it well and even Eunhyuk was praised. Yet, as time went, it was getting harder for Kikwang to follow. They were divided into two groups, Eunhyuk’s and Kikwang’s. Eunhyuk’s group was the first to perform and he made a great impression. However, when it was Kikwang’s turn, he was not as confident with the choreography and walked out of the group. After that, Brian told Kikwang not to give up even when he could not remember the choreography. At the end of the class, they finally tried to dance in heels with the choreography.
R&B Singer Gallant’s Appearance is Hidden Camera Prank?
One night, the staff received a DM from Warner Brothers after they watched the video and wanted to meet up to talk more about the collaboration. They set up a meeting at a bowling alley so the boys thought it was a prank. They were being cautious as the staff recorded them while they were waiting. Even Junhyung, who joined them, also thought it was suspicious for a big artist to want to meet at a bowling alley. Because they were waiting for so long, they went inside and started to suspect it was a hidden camera show or a prank by using a fake ID. They were sensitive to any sound and Kikwang noticed the staff were gathering around. When Junhyung checked the window, he saw an Audi SUV to enter the parking lot. They were startled when someone opened the door only to find out that it was their staff. But right after that, someone entered the room and the boys were excited and surprised to see it was none other than the big songwriter-singer, Gallant.
Gallant came and shook hands with each of them and sat. Junhyung helped to speak English and told him they were afraid it was a scam but were relieved it turned out not to be. Gallant said he liked to bowl and always went to that place whenever he had a chance that’s why he asked to meet up there. Gallant also praised their choreography video and looked forward to their collaboration. He gave the boys his number so they could keep in contact. Eunhyuk sent a message to Gallant right away while Kikwang called the number. Gallant humbly answered the call and Kikwang couldn’t hide his happiness.
Then they bowled. It was the Why Not? team versus Gallant’s team. After playing for a while, Eunhyuk had the idea to make a bet between the teams and asked Junhyung to talk to them, and Gallant agreed. The final results were that Why Not? the team lost with 213 points to Gallant’s team with 222 points.
Become K-Pop Dance Teacher
After Taemin finally joined the trio, they were asked to open a K-Pop dance class with Lia Kim at one of LA dance studios, Millenium studio, on episode 6. As soon as they arrived, they found a crowd waiting for them. Their class ended up having about 100 students, in all. For starters, Lia Kim taught her own choreography for Sunmi’s Gashina. The second teacher would be Eunhyuk, who showed them Super Junior’s Black Suit choreography. It was hard for him since he didn’t speak English well and the student didn’t really know Korean. He hesitated at first when he tried to count in English, but chose to use sounds while doing the moves and he also kept instructing in Korean. As a result, the students could not follow very well and, when they tried it with music, mostly could not dance. Eunhyuk realized he should have taught them the moves for Sorry Sorry instead. He then asked the students whether they knew the dance moves and danced with them in the end.
The next teacher was Kikwang. He taught his solo hidden track, Who Are You. He tried to count in English and made sounds as Eunhyuk did, then he tried to sing the lyrics while doing the moves, even though he forgot the lyrics in the middle. At the end of the lesson, when they danced with the music, the students followed it well.
The last teacher was Taemin. He chose the choreography for his solo track, Move. With a much slower song than the previous ones, Taemin managed to teach the choreography by counting and also tried to sing the lyrics. He also divided the students into three smaller groups and tried to dance with music with each group, then tried it together with all groups for the last time.
At the end of the dance class, Jisung made a special performance and showed off his moves by dancing Trey Songz’ Foreign, which was choreographed by his favorite, Brian Puspos.
Taemin demonstrated his moves for his own song, Danger. While he was dancing, a special guest entered the room. It was Ian Eastwood, the man who choreographed Taemin’s solo Danger.
Ian Eastwood’s appearance was not just a surprise. He also gave a lesson in the class. He taught his own choreography for Snoop Dogg’s (feat. Pharrell) – Beautiful. Ian gave an explanation for each part of the choreography. The boys were having a hard time because the moves were hard to follow and quite fast. Ian also gave the instruments’ clues so the students would understand which move came on which part.
The boys were impressed and amazed because Ian managed to listen to the details of the instruments of the song and made moves out of them. At the end of the episode, they showed the video of the Why Not? dance crews and Ian, himself, dancing to what he taught in the class that day.
Hip-Hop Dance Fast Course
On the last day in LA, they went back to Kinjaz Dojo Studio to practice but found another person in the room. It was Melvin TimTim, a famous hip-hop choreographer and also Kikwang’s favorite choreographer. Melvin held a surprise hip-hop dance class for the boys. He first demonstrated the choreography for O.T Genasis’ Everybody Mad, which he would be teaching them. They were excited, especially Kikwang since it’s his dance style. They tried hard to learn the moves and managed to memorize them. After practicing the whole routine, Melvin asked them to film it with them on the street.
They went back to the art district and headed straight to the spot with graffiti on the wall there. They started filming and made several mistakes, like Eunhyuk losing beats and Jisung tripping. However, they eventually managed to do it and the final video was shown.
Behind The Camera of Taemin Solo Dance Video
Taemin was left alone to continue his own activity in LA. He went to Kinjaz Dojo Studio and practiced. He had the idea to make a solo dance while he was still in Chile. He even asked the staff about which song he should dance to Tom Walker’s Leave A Light On or Lemaitre’s Closer. He tried both of the songs and decided to choose Closer. He also kept thinking about the choreography in the waiting room in the middle of his concert.
In LA, he started rehearsing for the first time. He used earphones while making the moves. When he was taking a break, the staff asked him about the dance moves, especially where he used a knee-move. Taemin said it was okay since he had a lot of that kind of moves before. When he was asked where he wanted to film the dance, he said he wanted to do it at Vasquez Rocks Park, where he did a recording for his song Drip Drop’s music video.
After arriving at the park, Taemin reminisced about his time when he was there recording for his music video. He then chose a spot with grass and the huge rocks in the background.
Behind The Camera of the Second Group Dance Video
For the second dance video, Eunhyuk had asked Taemin about a song and he recommended Tom Walker’s Leave A Light On. Eunhyuk said they might want to try a slow song and also considered Gallant’s Weight In Gold and Sam Smith’s Stay, while Jisung recommended Lauv’s I Like Me Better. But since they made a contact with Gallant, they decided to use Weight In Gold for their second video. After Taemin’s arrival, they all went back to Kinjaz Dojo Studio to create the choreography for their second video. First, Taemin said that he wanted everyone to understand the song so they decided to translate the lyrics and tried to understand the song better. They started to make some moves but decided they thought it was way too erotic or sensual, so they needed to rethink their moves.
Back in South Korea, the three of them gathered again at the SM Entertainment dance practice room. Because Eunhyuk hurt his ankle during a concert in Dubai, he could not join his dongsaengs rehearsing, so he just watched them. Kikwang, who had learned a lot from LA, started to give ideas for moves and then Taemin added ideas for the next part.
One night, Eunhyuk was seen rehearsing by himself in the room. He felt bad because he could not join them when they were making the choreography. The next day, the trio gathered again and continued to practice. This time Eunhyuk gave ideas about blocking and formation. The time passed quickly until the day of their filming for their second video.
They arrived at the filming location and went inside, preparing themselves and putting on the outfits for filming. Before they got started, Eunhyuk gave another idea for some parts in the chorus. After that, they went to their location, which was like a wide basement with pillars and dim lights. Right before they started, Taemin was concerned about the center spot, so they could not start filming. He found a tripod to help them spot the center. Before they began, they did marking for the last time. After watching the video, Kikwang felt that the accessory they had around their right hand was a distraction, so they decided to untie it. After doing and watching their first try, Eunhyuk wasn’t satisfied with the camera angle. After a while, they were all finally satisfied with their final product.
