Main dancer is the title that almost every idol dreams of because we all know in Kpop,
choreography is the signature.
While many main dancers are said to be born for this position, others are not so lucky
as many think they are too overrated for it.
So in this video, let's take a look at some of the idols that netizens consider unworthy
to be the main dancer.
Kazuha (LE SSERAFIM)
Recently, there is a thread on the Internet discussing overrated main dancers of big acts
in K-Pop and according to some, the fact that some LE SSERAFIM members had to train their
dancing professionally hours after hours in the practice room just to end up giving the
main dancer position to Kazuha for her advance ballet background is ridiculous.
Things all started after some immediately claimed that Kazuha was the potential main
dancer of LE SSERAFIM just by looking at her high profile as a ballerina that was accepted
to the Royal Ballet School in the UK.
Specifically, because ballet has a rich history and is the cradle which many other dancing
types take inspiration from, mastering it equals extremely good dancing capabilities.
As not even K-Pop dancing asks the dancer to use all their lower body muscles, especially
the strength of only the toes tips to lift up the entire body, and the figure management
to maintain the weight as light as a feather, being extremely good at ballet like Kazuha
also means Kazuha should be recognized as the main dancer of the group.
However, as others pointed out, claiming Kazuha as the main dancer of LE SSERAFIM based solely
on how learning ballet is way harder than learning ordinary K-Pop dancing doesn’t
make sense.
Of course, her capabilities to control the body is undeniably impressive but as some
pointed out, K-Pop dancing was a totally different genre and in fact, it has nothing to do with
ballet techniques for being the harmonious combination of hip hop, popping and jazz dancing,
Kazuha was said to have no reasons to be voted as the recognized main dancer of LE SSERAFIM.
So, who should be the main dancer in LE SSERAFIM according to netizens?
Some claimed that based on the dynamics displayed on stage, either Chaewon or Yunjin should
take on this role.
Whenever watching the group perform, the sharp and clear-cut moves of these two members were
said to naturally draw people’s attention even though it wasn’t their part.
Especially when putting Kazuha on the scale with them, the ballet girl was said to always
be overshadowed as besides the flexible execution developed after years of doing ballet, nothing
in her skills stood out according to the standard of K-Pop dancing.
However, lots of fans argued that the fact that Chaewon and Yunjin dance well doesn't
mean Kazuha has no main dancer material because first, her body control is excellent thanks
to years of practicing ballet so she can do difficult moves high kicks or back bend easily
while other members can't; second, in kpop dancing, hip hop and popping are not everything
and other genres like contemporary dance or ballet should also be equally appreciated.
Mina (Twice)
While Momo is explicitly the main dancer of TWICE and to many non-fans, she is the only
main dancer of the group, it actually turns out that Mina is also one thanks to her impressive
balletic background.
However, as more and more people get to know about her role in TWICE, there is also an
increasingly popular opinion saying that they don’t find this assigning justified because
one, her performance on stage was plain and two, it’s ridiculous how she could get this
position based solely on the fact that she excelled in ballet dancing.
As I’ve gathered the analysis of netizens about the case of LE SSERAFIM’s Kazuha,
Mina was also said to not meet the standard of a main dancer though her body control was
impressive thanks to years of learning ballet.
However, as people started to dive into the way Mina carried her Kpop dance, they also
realized she was actually even more lacking than Kazuha.
Various posts on big forums have been posted with titles like “I don't think Mina is
the 2nd best dancer in TWICE,” “Mina is not a good dancer,” and once, there is even
a long thread on Reddit pointing out all the things Mina failed compared to her title as
the “main dancer” and as this person said, she was shook to know Mina was voted to be
the second best dancer in TWICE.
Of course as an ex-ballerina, Mina can do graceful, elegant moves but overall, her performances
were said to be quite stiff.
Especially when she did the choreography for More & More and I Can’t Stop Me, Mina was
also said to do lots of unnecessary shortcuts, which could have been the source of severe
criticism.
Another reason bugging the OP about Mina’s position as the main dancer was also how she
literally never led the dance breaks in TWICE’s choreographies and even on dance-focused stages,
it was always Jihyo who got to be in the center along with Momo.
Basically, Mina was believed to not justify her main dancer position and probably this
title of hers was also plainly nominal as she didn’t get much dance exposure.
In the comment section, lots of netizens also agreed with the OP and according to them,
another reason making them dislike Mina both as a main dancer and as an idol is that she
seemingly didn’t try to improve her skills.
During the SIXTEEN phase, Mina’s dancing capability was widely recognized but as time
passed, she was said to simply run on treadmills while other members, especially Jihyo and
Sana, had improved a lot to get more dance exposure.
Plus, the previous point saying “ballerina often struggle hard to do any other dancing
types” was also proven through Mina because as many pointed out, she was so deeply stuck
with keeping everything to the standard that all her moves must be in perfect angle, which
only created the impression that they were watching a machine dancing with no vibe or
soul.
Xiaoting (Kep1er)
Having won lots of prestigious prizes in global ballroom dancing contests and managing to
pull off various types of dancing before steering her way into the idol career, lots of fans
have been saying that Xiaoting deserves the main dancer position in KEP1ER more than anyone.
Even just with a quick recap, Xiaoting’s list of achievements has already taken people
aback as at the age of 14, she had won fourth place in group modern dance at CBDF China
Cup Tour Finals.
Then, she went on to win first place in a Shanghai ballroom tournament championship
the next year and from then on, Xiaoting’s dancing endeavors took her around the world.
She even traveled to Britain, where she competed in the British Rising Star Amateur Ballroom
competition—part of the world’s most famous ballroom dance contest.
However, when people put Xiaoting on the scale with Dayeon, they started to realize that
her dancing skills weren't that impressive.
As some pointed out, while excelling at ballroom dancing meant that Xiaoting would be exported
to footwork and posture, it usually appeared that Dayeon had better angles and torso control
than Xiaoting.
Plus, because Xiaoting’s moves have been trained to be graceful and elegant, which
didn’t fit well with the hip styles of dynamic Kpop dancing, many said they found the performance
of Dayeon more captivating considering her strong energy compacted in every move.
Speaking from a technical viewpoint, many said that Xiaoting was overshadowed by Dayeon
because K-Pop dancing is very different from her classical dancing background.
That is not to mention how she also didn’t have that allure of a main dancer on stage
since more often than not, people would catch her being emotionless, carrying dead eyes
throughout the whole performance while other members were conveying versatile expressions
according to the lyrics.
However, the discussion has become more and more polarized after Xiaoting’s performance
at ISAC this year as after the impressive dance, she immediately ranked first in the
dance sport competition and also went viral everywhere on the Internet.
People really couldn’t take their eyes off Xiaoting for the way she moved was both elegant
and sharp.
Even based on the K-Pop dancing standard rather than the criteria of ballroom dancing, Knetz
were still greatly impressed by the way Xiaoting decisively and swiftly executed each move
as well as the way she versatilely managed her facial expression.
It’s hard to believe how a twenty-three-year-old girl could display such a dynamic just through
her moves and with everything she had proven at ISAC, there are even more reasons to believe
she deserved the title “main dancer” of KEP1ER.
Jimin (BTS)
If you’ve followed BTS for quite some time, it’s very likely that you’ve heard at
least once about the civil debate to decide whether Jimin or J-Hope should be the main
dancer of BTS.
On one hand, Jimin’s fans believed that the male idol obviously deserves the title
more than anyone else because one, he was a top student in Busan Arts highschool from
all departments and two, he could do lots of dancing styles, especially the contemporary
one.
However, J-hope’s fans didn’t think so and said that considering real-life performances,
not academic achievements, the way J-hope managed to draw attention through his powerful
yet delicate moves really proved that the “main dancer” title and this position
should have been officially granted to J-Hope only.
This endless debate started to get hotter and hotter when a former idol trainer took
it to the Internet, voicing his thoughts on why Jimin’s dancing was greatly exaggerated.
Apparently because Jimin could dance extremely well and his personal style was so strong
that he could “Jimin-ify all dances” as explained by the trainer, which was hardly
copied because even Jimin himself would have a hard time explaining how to execute moves
the way he did.
However, all these were still said to be overshadowed by J-Hope’s capabilities because Jiymin
didn’t have the precision and effortlessness in his moves like J-Hope.
Besides, as Jimin sticks too frequently with the techniques and the posture correctness
that was embedded to him as an advanced contemporary dancer, many said it became monotonous and
predictable when watching Jimin dance for a long period of time.
As one of the two main dancers of the group, Jimin is expected to have the talent for developing
choreographies from scratch, but he was many times said to fall far behind J-Hope in this
aspect.
Thus, netizens believed the hype around Jimin’s excellent dancing skills is simply because
of his greater popularity compared to J-Hope.
However, the total denial of Jimin’s capabilities to match the main dancer position was also
said to be unjustified because subjectively speaking, he has been highly regarded by many
top media and experts and has also gone viral multiple times for his impressive solo dance
performances.
Even 2 experts at Steezy Studio Online Dance, Ellen and Brian, once named Jimin the most
talented dancer of K-Pop that “everyone wants to emulate.”
So, do these idols have legit dancer material in your opinion?
Plus, do you agree those who only master one field of dancing should take on the main dancer
role?