Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
In catching-you-up-with-ongoing-drama news, dancer Vata from the We Dem Boyz dance crew that’s currently starring on Street Man Fighter is being accused of plagiarizing ATEEZ‘s point choreo from “Say My Name” for a dance challenge created for Zico‘s “New Thing“.
Initially it was ATEEZ fans calling Vata out, but the issue continued to grow and now one of the choreographers has personally commented. On Instagram, Anze Skrube claimed that the move was bitten and that Vata should at least give credit where it’s due.
Reasonable enough request if it was indeed plagiarized, really.
As far as the move in question, it’s the driving one at the start.
For the sake of comparison.
The issue recently blew up more because Wooyoung of ATEEZ recently called it out as biting at a performance.
Gonna be honest with you, I don’t know enough about dancing and the norms in the culture to comment on the validity of this. However, it’s definitely one thing for fans to be saying something compared to an idol and one of the choreographers to speak out, so it should be interesting if this goes anywhere from here given the popularity of “New Thing”.
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Update
Vata denies biting the move in a statement.
When I first heard the music, I was reminded of a plain in the wilderness, and I created the intro choreography to depict arriving on a motorcycle or horseback. That’s why I used the motion of starting an engine at the beginning, followed by a big kick and a dismount after driving, and there is a story with a beginning, middle, and end. I think that it is completely different from the intent and connection between the movements of the choreography to which it is currently being compared. As a person who loves the culture of dance, I think it’s admirable when artists and choreographers respect one another. However, it seems like that isn’t the case [right now], which I find very unfortunate. Regardless of the reason, I feel apologetic to the viewers of “Street Man Fighter” and everyone who has been cheering for We Dem Boyz about the fact that I caused a controversy. I will repay your love with even cooler performances. Thank you.
