247 aka Lilili Yabbay pt 2/dark vers.
Welcome to another choreography appreciation post that’s going to be long AF - full of gifs and this time including song analysis because it’s just as important as their choreography choices. I would read the lyrics to this song before reading this post because I’ll be referencing them quite a bit in this appreciation/analysis post.
First things first - can we applaud the performance team for putting this piece of performance art together while/between prepping for their concert, comeback AND showcase?
Secondly - the true beauty this song/choreography is its impact in the story arc that is the performance units songs. For those who don’t know, Dance of Month 13/Lilili Yabbay, Moonwalker, Shhh and 247 all exist in the same story arc and I believe 247 to be the culmination of said story arc.
Lilili Yabbay introduces their lover - someone who “lives in their dreams” and from whom they “dance in the moonlight”. This is a lover they are separated from, a lover they have yet to meet but are constantly searching for. There is hope and faith that they will meet in month 13 and a belief that their lover won’t disappear. No matter what, they will still be there, searching and waiting.
We move to Moonwalker where deep in the night, while everyone else sleeps, their love grows to new heights. They continue to dance in the moonlight, calling out to their lover with the excitement and joy of a first love that makes them feel like moonwalkers. Despite whatever keeps them apart, this moonwalking love will enable them to cross over any rift and let them get to their lover.
Shhh is where the story starts to turn. This song is almost a plea to their lover to shut out the whispers that they were not meant to be. They try to quiet the lies that they’re just an illusion, that their feelings are merely an illusion.
And this leaves us at 247 - what I consider to be the end of the story. The main reasoning for this is how much it references LIlili Yabbay in its lyrics and choreography with a sprinkling of choreo from Moonwalker and Shhh as well. In a way, it’s the other bookend of the story. From the get go, the vibe of the song is very nostalgic with its melodic guitar and relaxed percussion. It evokes an introspective atmosphere that’s portrayed as they spend the first two verses wandering the stage, reflecting their circling thoughts. Lyrically we start the song in a very similar setting to Lilili Yabbay as well: in dreams filled with their lover. This time however, instead of the feelings of longing and anticipation being associated with these dreams, the boys are singing from a place of caution and apprehension. The lyrics parallel searching from Jan - Dec to only seeing lost footprints on top of the road on which they searched from Mon - Fri. The continuation of dancing for their lover in the moonlight, sung in the same falsetto as in Lilili Yabbay, but saying that maybe it was all in vain. The parallel themes of time but with 247, the ticking of the clock-like percussion makes you feel like the time is now limited, almost at its end. What they’ve been experiencing since the Dance of Month 13 are just a memory that’s being remembered twenty-four/seven - memories that won’t end until the end of the universe and their lives.
Now that we understand the story, let’s appreciate the choreo. As stated before, there are moves that are sampled from Moonwalker…
and Shhh…
(I can’t find a good reference video to gif but just look for fancams - the above choreo references the choreo during the Shhh lyrics “위험에서 가릴 수 있게허락된 dedication/숨 쉬듯 자연스러워영원한 dedication” (So I can cover you from danger, a consented dedication/It’s as natural as breathing, an everlasting dedication)
but the majority of the choreography references in this piece is pulled from Lilili Yabbay.
There’s the very obvious call to Lilili Yabbay with the signature clock choreo except in 247 the clock/time suddenly stops, reflecting the end of this relationship/story arc…
the 247 take on Dino manipulating the gears of a clock…
and the consuming hands thing (I have no idea what to call this move)…
The choreography of this song is actually pretty simple when compared to previous performance unit songs. Granted, part of it probably has to do with the short amount of time they had to prepare but, by being simple, the story of the songs is actually reflected a lot more clearly than if it was complicated (and to be honest, I’m a sucker for choreo that reflects the story of the performance). This doesn’t mean the moves aren’t intricate (I mean, just look at the above gifs) or thoughtful - In fact, the moves are specifically choreographed to reflect the lyrics and story of the song.
Like I mentioned earlier, the song reflects a person’s wandering thoughts as they sing about their fears as to where this relationship is going. It starts as a slow, wandering train of thought:
that slowly becoming more chaotic and confused:
only to come back to where they first started:
Below is a celebration of a few moments of choreography reflecting the lyrics in order of appearance:
“247 I look for you, wandering and wandering until I arrived here” - I am personally amazed at how many different ways they can portray clocks and time
“If I open my arms and hold you” - pretty self explanatory tbh…
“I don’t even get anything” - trying to catch something only to be left empty handed *tears*
“No matter how much I say I miss you, my heart that longs for you can’t be filled” - THIS MOVE IS SO SIMPLE YET IT HIT ME SO HARD THE FIRST TIME I WATCHED THIS
“The road that I look for you on every day, there’s only lost footprints on top of it.” - each member is an impression left behind as Chan keeps walking down the ‘road’
And for the final gif of this post that has nothing to do with choreo but because they are called the PERFORMANCE unit and not dance unit for a reason…
THEIR MOMENT TO SHINE AS SINGERS!!!!!
I know this post becomes a mess at the end (I’ve been working on this after work for the last 4 days when I should be sleeping so lol what is consistent coloring) but I love this song so much because it truly showcases the performance unit’s talents so well and I feel so proud of them and please oh please let them perform this during the world tour.
Honestly this was originally going to be a short post to compare the choreo from previous songs to their references in this song but then I read the lyrics from Lilili Yabbay through 247 because of what Hoshi said during the showcase and I just had to make a post about it. This is why we celebrate Seventeen as self-producing idols - not for some gimmick or selling point but because they create their own songs, choreos, etc. they are able to tell a story throughout their discography. As they grow as people, performers, choreographers, etc. their performances grow and change along with them.
I have no idea how to end this post that’s already too long but yeah. I hope those who read this post gain a little more appreciation for the beauty of this performance.
