Initial Impressions (2/3): Junhui (Jun), Jisung, Soonyoung (Hoshi), and Taeyong
Junhui | Jun
Sexy is an emotion. In groups like Seventeen and NCT, it’s so hard to pick a top dancer. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, no one, really, is a hole. That said, it can be hard to stand out sometimes, as in the case with Minghao. But with Junhui, the situation is a little different. Junhui holds his own both on the Performance Team, but also in Seventeen as a whole through his unique brand of sex appeal. Even in what is supposed to be your standard kpop flower boy choreo, Junhui takes it and makes in sexual. Not sensual, sexual. In some cases, Junhui even treads feminine. Of all the dancers on this list, he reminds me most of VIXX’s N. They share this skill of elevating typically polarizing choreography until it appeals to male and female viewers alike. Because of his sex appeal, Junhui is more suited for modern and contemporary style dance such as the case in Lilili Yabbay. All that said, Jun does not have a special dancers’ quirk outside of his general sexy aura. I find that he sometimes lacks emotion in the conventional sense during what should be powerful performances and even looks to be counting at times. Where he ranks on my list of standouts will be interesting to see
Jisung
Confident charisma. Jisung reminds me a lot of boys I went to middle school with. Like that badass little kid who was always running in and out of the house letting his momma’s good air out. And that’s exactly how he dances. Like a badass little kid with all the wit and confidence in the world. When you watch him you’ll notice a few things, first: he’s very precise. This is something many SM dancers have in common. He hits every beat almost perfectly and can do a cute concept to the point where it looks cool. Second: he’s arrogant but in a way that’s actually endearing. The look on his face when he dances is ‘I’m better than you and I don’t even have to think about it. It’s a rare type of charisma I haven’t seen in many idol dancers before, and I think it’s what makes him standout in such a talented group of boys and men as NCT. That said, like a little boy, Jisung is extremely impatient, impulsive, and lacks a unique dance signature. When I see a Taemin performing, I know it’s his, even if he didn’t choreograph it, it’s his. When I see Ten performing, I know it’s his own. But when I see Jisung, I know I’m looking at someone who is still very much just a kid. And there’s nothing wrong with that (he’s what? 16?), it’s just that he has a long way to go and needs to learn how to control his charisma as well as find his signature style
Hoshi | Soon-Young
Pure fun. Like many on this part and part 1 of this list, Hoshi’s style is a little harder to pin down. BUT, it’s there, little sprinkles of it. In his own choreographies you can see it--an almost yo-yo effect between smooth and flowy and quick and powerful. This might seem mundane, but it’s actually very difficult to pull off. Hoshi is a master of understanding how people fit and is incredible creative. He knows inherently what looks good. He is a very gifted choreographer with that same Michael Jackson-esque trait that Minghao has of making mundane things into choreographies. The difference is, while Minghao dances to the beat of life’s music, Hoshi dances to the story of life in words. Just watch him perform and see what I mean. He tries to put lyrical meaning in every movement and does so in a way that is so natural it looks like he was born knowing these things. More so than most of the dancers on this list, Hoshi looks like he is just having fun and isn’t overthinking a single step. That is a gift
Taeyong
Arthritis Papi. Taeyong is very clean with his locking, coming to complete stops when he locks. I think what really makes him standout as a dancer is this skill. And as a performer, it’s his energy. When Taeyong hits the stage he goes from a somewhat awkward and intermittently reserved personality to a powerhouse with vigor for ages. And when he dances to NCT’s unique, complex and somewhat aggressive choreography, he’s not too heavy-handed. He doesn’t actually hit hard, he just gives the illusion of it. This is because he has such a lean, somewhat top-heavy body shape that allows him to look strong without actually coming down with too much of a ‘boom’. Unfortunately, this can be his flaw as well. You can see it more in freestyle attempts but Taeyong has a lot of work to do with loosening up his limbs. Unlike some of the others on this list such as Hoshi and Hoseok, Taeyong isn’t really a natural dancer, he’s just a damn gifted one with decent stage presence (that, with work, I believe could rival some of the best performers in kpop). So while yes, he’s built for a style that specializes in fast-paced heavy choreos, in order to be the best, he still needs to show how that style can translate into slower and more interpretive movement the likes of which Hakyeon, Taemin, Jimin, and Hoya can pull off