Needle heels should be banned from choreographed music videos.
on Meisa Kuroki dancing with heels.
I’ll eat my words by the end of this post, don’t worry.
As you all know, I’m a late K-pop bloomer. Since everyone around me seems to be into Kpop, I don’t keep an eye on it because I don’t feel like I need to… I just wait for my friends to tell me what to watch. LOL
It is in my search for Glee + Kpop posts (because I want to see how much audience would be into it… not many), I ended up on the video posted on a celebrity gossip website, that shall remain nameless, of After School’s Let’s Step Up MV.
They described it as Glee Korean style — which is not. As you know I love Celtic music, hence I also have a fascination with Riverdance, and tap dance. Let’s Step Up blew my mind. LOL Are you kidding me? Glossy pop music mixed with tap, mixed with Riverdance? I love it.
I had heard about After School before, but I had never paid attention, so I read a bit about them because I wanted to know who the fierce tap-dancing lady was. My dad told me she looks “older,” to which I responded that she couldn’t top 25 because… well, it’s After School! Boy was I wrong.
Freaking Kahi is 30! 30 going on 31!
We know, overall, that a lot of idols in Korea can rock some moves. But my gawd, Kahi. You know how much I’ve vouched for BoA’s dancing skills (specially in the Jpop industry), always saying that BoA’s dancing in Eat You Up was pretty killing. But my gawd, Kahi~ You can even dance or, at least, move and not look awkward in heels.
She even looks a little like… Gong Li in certain angles. Just her face.
Her struggle to be able to get to dance is also pretty impressive — I dunno about going against her parents, I hope she fixed that relationship and that they are happy that she’s succeeded in the business. Her struggle to stick to it despite it all is… worthy of praise.
Okay, now that all the praise is out~ let’s look at some of the negative points.
Except for Let’s Step Up, I haven’t found an After School song that I’ve completely liked. I find them bland and generic pop, like a lot of the music industry. Even Kahi’s solo stuff seemed just rather… okay-ish. Her performance of that was also… meh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dUDX7rOGKs
As someone who was blown away with Kahi’s dancing style, I was really disappointed in her solo stage presence. There was just something missing from it, which has a lot to do with my not liking the song.
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Anyone care to enlighten me about After School and Kahi?
I think the lack you speak of on her solo stages is the fact that she isn’t a good singer. She is aware of that so she focuses all her energy in breathing properly and not sounding bad. So her dancing suffers because it’s hard to focus on two such hard things.
Kahi is a great dancer in heels, she can rock them all. Pretty much because she has perfect balance. She always founds her balance and has it anchored on her middle all the time. I should know, I do the same thing. I can mess up a step so bad but I never lose my balance. It’s like she know exactly how to move as to not lose her balance. It’s a very nifty thing to do.
@Julili, I don’t mind backing vocals… but I guess a lot of people pretend it’s easy to dance and sing at the same time.
You know, when I was in my early teens and danced to Britney and Nsync, I used to be able to dancing and at least… sing along to the song without being breathless. Now? LOL, I look like I’m walking in Tibet or something and I have to gasp for air. xD