There is a question. Big Bang’s Tae-yang is a great dancer, well known, in the K-pop world. His Dougie dance is excellent. He even had a battle dance with a professional dancer in the U.S. He is an outstanding dancer by both his own and others’ admission. Yet, CL is a good dancer, too, when it comes to Dougie. She shows Dougie dance moves in her solo song ‘The Baddest Female’.
Then, who would be the winner of a Dougie dance battle between Tae-yang and CL?
The answer is ‘no one’. Dougie dance has just basic steps. It does not have a certain choreography. If you know how to step, you can dance Dougie. The standard rule is to move your upper body as you like. In other words, there is not a certain rule. There is actually no standard for the dance. The standard changes depending on who evaluates the dance.
CL is promoting her first solo album. She is showing her slow charm with the slow hip-hop song ‘The Baddest Female’. The point is ‘Nail Polish Drying’ dance. The dance, which applies Dougie dance, plays a key role in making her outstanding.
We met Director Lee Jae-wook of the YG dance team Hi-Tech to satisfy our curiosity on the choreography of ‘The Baddest Female’.
1. ‘Nail Polish Drying’ is a peculiar name. Who named the dance?
▶ CEO Yang Hyun-suk gave us the idea. It was Mr. Yang who suggested the Dougie dance for CL’s new song. He is an expert in dancing. I think he suggested Dougie because he knew that CL knows how to enjoy her stage. The same goes to ‘Nail Polish Drying’ dance. He got a hint from the motion of shaking nails.
2. I heard the Dougie dance is difficult. How did you organize a dance team?
▶ The Hi-Tech dance team is in charge of choreography of all artists from YG Entertainment, but this time is an exception. I wanted to convey the feeling of the dance moves as properly as possible. I organized a ‘dream team’ for it. I picked dancers with a good feel for Dougie from Korea’s famous dance teams. I chose female dancers to fit the song ‘The Baddest Female.’ They are either freelancers or belong to other dance teams.
3. Who are the young dancers who perform with CL on stage?
▶ They belong to the Japanese dance team called ‘Aloe Kids’ (sic LoL K!dz). They are well known among overseas dancers. They started working as a dancer at the age of five or six and YG Entertainment had a keen interest in them. They are experts in the Dougie dance. CL learned Dougie in the dance team they belong to and that is how they joined CL’s dance team. They added uniqueness to CL’s stage.
4. Who is better at Dougie between CL and Taeyang?
▶ Ther is no answer. I cannot say who is better or not. Dougie dance has just basic steps. It does not have certain moves.
Dougie is a freestyle dance where you express yourself as you feel. Even if they learn the same moves, Taeyang and CL will give a different feel. You cannot decide who is better. The answer will be different depending on people. Still, among girl groups, I suppose that CL will be matchless.
5. Who is the best Dougie dancer?
▶ CL wears two types of costumes on one stage. Especially she wears heels during verse two to express ‘The Baddest Female’. It is not easy to balance your body in heels when you dance Dougie. That is why CL’s choreography is less fierce in verse two than one. Beyonce may be the only one who can dance Dougie in heels. It takes a lot of strength in legs to dance Dougie. Solid thighs are helpful. If CL improves her leg stregnth, she will be able to give a better feel.
6. Is her improvisation planned in advance?
▶ YG Entertainment has a golden rule, which is that performance must not be boring. You are allowed to perform with the same choreography only up to five times. The same goes to CL’s performance. The hook dance moves are repetitive, of course, but improvisation differs each time. For example, she motions as if she shaves the head of a male dancer, or plays a hand-clapping game. Most of the improvisations starts from CL’s own ideas. You can have fun to see. (?)
7. CL came out as a solo artist in a short time. Was dance practice enough for her?
▶ Yes. CL is such a practice worm. She does not care if it is night or day. She even practices on holidays. She should take a rest on Sunday, but she asks to keep practicing. No dance team would not like a singer who doesn’t try hard. Even when choreography is 98% completed, she keeps on practicing to fill the rest 2%. I compliment her for thinking in the shoes of a dancer, not a singer when she dances. That is why she could pull off perfection in spite of a short preparation time.
♬ I am the baddest female, I am the baddest female, I am the baddest female, where all my bad girls at ♪
CL really is ‘The Baddest Female.’ The confident lyrics where she shouts, “I am the queen bee” and the bold controversial costumes suggestive of underwear show the aura of her originality. The key factor that makes CL on stage the baddest female, however, is performance. When she opens her fingers and shows her nails, the wicked but relaxed baddest female comes out.
The choreography of ‘The Baddest Female’ is based on Dougie dance. ‘Dougie dance’ stems from hip-hop dance where you use rebounds and vibrations of your body. Dougie dance has been sensational for recent years. Once you learn basic steps, you can transform them as you like. Men usually perform the Dougie, but CL applied it to her performance for the first time as a Korean female artist.
The ‘Nail Polish Drying‘ dance is a kind of Dougie dance, which is the best contributor in making CL the baddest female. It started from YG CEO Yang Hyun-suk’s idea. ▶ Why did CL choose the Dougie, which is demanding even for men? ▶ How was the Nail Polish Drying dance born? ▶ How do we dance the Dougie? ▶ Finally, how do we apply Dougie dance moves in a club?
Let us take a look at the CL-style Dougie dance.
◆ Why did CL choose Dougie?
Dougie is a famous dance in the U.S. It became sensational a couple of years ago and now it is common. You can apply Dougie moves as you like once you learn the basic steps, which actually makes the Dougie more difficult. The feel widely differs from people to people. It is not easy to convey the feel of the dance properly, so to speak.
Director Lee Jae-wook of the YG dance team said, “That is why CL fits the Dougie.” He said, “When she was a trainee, she turned the basic dance moves she just learned into her own style. She actually was a disturbance to a group dance.” He added, “Your own style is important in the Dougie. CEO Yang Hyun-suk was aware of it and that is why she suggested the Dougie for CL.”
Her challenging spirit played a role, too. She wanted to try something that no one had tried before. There was no example that a woman, or a member of a girl group, had tried the Dougie in Korea. In addition, Korean artists these days focus on ‘point dance’ so that people can emulate easily. She aimed to break the trend.
Director Lee Jae-wook explained, “Big Bang’s Tae-yang is good at the Dougie, but if he dances the Dougie on stage it is too predictable. We thought, ‘What about a girl group doing that?’” He added, “CL is the only female artist who can handle it. Now is the time for the hook-repetitive choreography to become boring. That is why we tried it even though it is not easy.”
◆ CL-style Dougie, the difficult journey
CL is said to come alive on stage but it was not easy for her to perform the Dougie. Just memorizing planned choreography did not do. She started from scratch step by step. She reviewed everything from basic steps to applied moves. The process made the choreography of ‘The Baddest Female’ even more natural.
In fact, she stayed in Japan for a pretty long time before releasing the solo single to learn the Dougie. A Japanese Dougie expert in the U.S. worked with the YG dance team, and finally the CL-style Dougie was born. YG even invited a Japanese dance team. The children who perform with CL on stage are members of the famous dance team ‘LOL K!dz’.
Practice was crucial, but bringing her own Dougie feel into life was a bigger issue after the choreography was completed. The task was to remove feminine vibes from her movement. Relentless practice was required to get the right angle of hands since a subtle difference in angles can decide the feel of the dance.
Director Lee said, “CL is a member of a girl group. She is used to trying to dance beautifully. When you start to dance beautifully, the free vibe of the Dougie goes away. She tried a lot to let go of the habit. Especially she continued to practice for hand angles because putting your hands in a certain angle can decide the best or worst feel.”
◆ Birth of the Nail Polish Drying dance
CL has been well known as a serious practice bug since her trainee days. It is already a famous episode that she practiced at the YG building even in holidays. She loves being on stage. CL-style Dougie was born through such hard efforts. Incessant practice completed the ‘Nail Polish Drying’ dance, which has been explosively popular in clubs lately.
Director Lee Jae-wook said, “The ‘Nail Polish Drying’ dance may look a bit wicked. It was the perfect choice to express ‘The Baddest Female’. I think showing nails fits the concept of the bad ‘female’. We are satisfied with the result. We did not lag behind the trend while keeping the feel of the Dougie.”
She added improvisation to that. It is not 100% improvisation, of course. She prepares for it to some extent. For example, she pushes a head of a male dancer during performance or motions as if she plays a hand-clapping game. Boredom is banned. Five times is the maximum. CL and YG have a rule that they should not repeat the same improvisation over and over again.
Finally, we asked how to dance the ‘Nail Polish Drying’ on behalf of ‘Starcast’ readers. Director Lee Jae-wook of the YG dance team taught us how to be good at the CL-style Dougie and apply it in clubs. It was not very hard to learn the following four steps. Still, the result depends on each of you.
HOW TO. ’Nail Polish Drying’ dance
STEP 1. Space your feet as wide as your shoulders. Point your toes outward so that your feet are placed on the straight line.
STEP 2. Slightly bend your knees as if you sit on an invisible chair. Slightly bend your body backwards. Did you get a gangster posture? Then the basic posture is done.
STEP 3. Now it is the real beginning. After you take the basic posture, bend your hands and place them in front of your chest naturally. The point is to show your 10 nails to the front.
STEP 4. Finally, push your hands and feet the other way. The key is to push them strongly or weakly. You control strength by pushing them. Put your hands in a 45 degree angle diagonally. Then, now you are ‘The Baddest Female’, too.
TIP. You should never try to look beautiful. The point of the Dougie is not to be beautiful, but to be ‘cool’. When you bend your hands, you should not place them too close to your chest. It may make you look lame.
▶ Application
First, keep the posture of STEP 1 and 2. Let’s take a step. Walk with your left foot and right foot alternately. Then move your upper body as you like. You may move our arms up and down or just shake your body. You can grab the attention of other clubbers.
Second, keep the posture of STEP 1 and 2. Take two steps to the left and to the right respectively. And then raise your hands above your head, open your second fingers, and shake them left and right. It is the so-called ‘E.T.’ dance.
Source: Dispatch via Naver Starcast, 2
◆ CL-style Dougie, the difficult journey
CL is said to come alive on stage but it was not easy for her to perform the Dougie. Just memorizing planned choreography did not do. She started from scratch step by step. She reviewed everything from basic steps to applied moves. The process made the choreography of ‘The Baddest Female’ even more natural.
In fact, she stayed in Japan for a pretty long time before releasing the solo single to learn the Dougie. A Japanese Dougie expert in the U.S. worked with the YG dance team, and finally the CL-style Dougie was born. YG even invited a Japanese dance team. The children who perform with CL on stage are members of the famous dance team ‘LOL K!dz’.
Practice was crucial, but bringing her own Dougie feel into life was a bigger issue after the choreography was completed. The task was to remove feminine vibes from her movement. Relentless practice was required to get the right angle of hands since a subtle difference in angles can decide the feel of the dance.
Director Lee said, “CL is a member of a girl group. She is used to trying to dance beautifully. When you start to dance beautifully, the free vibe of the Dougie goes away. She tried a lot to let go of the habit. Especially she continued to practice for hand angles because putting your hands in a certain angle can decide the best or worst feel.”
- See more at: http://ygladies.com/media/mv/130625-choreography-study-dougie-dance-is-ygs-idea-arent-you-drying-your-nail-polish#sthash.m6vIPvQ6.dpuf
CL is said to come alive on stage but it was not easy for her to perform the Dougie. Just memorizing planned choreography did not do. She started from scratch step by step. She reviewed everything from basic steps to applied moves. The process made the choreography of ‘The Baddest Female’ even more natural.
In fact, she stayed in Japan for a pretty long time before releasing the solo single to learn the Dougie. A Japanese Dougie expert in the U.S. worked with the YG dance team, and finally the CL-style Dougie was born. YG even invited a Japanese dance team. The children who perform with CL on stage are members of the famous dance team ‘LOL K!dz’.
Practice was crucial, but bringing her own Dougie feel into life was a bigger issue after the choreography was completed. The task was to remove feminine vibes from her movement. Relentless practice was required to get the right angle of hands since a subtle difference in angles can decide the feel of the dance.
Director Lee said, “CL is a member of a girl group. She is used to trying to dance beautifully. When you start to dance beautifully, the free vibe of the Dougie goes away. She tried a lot to let go of the habit. Especially she continued to practice for hand angles because putting your hands in a certain angle can decide the best or worst feel.”
- See more at: http://ygladies.com/media/mv/130625-choreography-study-dougie-dance-is-ygs-idea-arent-you-drying-your-nail-polish#sthash.m6vIPvQ6.dpuf
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