February 19, 2025 I am opening the season with extremes and favorite songs from Just Dance from previous years. After acquiring the military discipline that comes with k-pop, I'm finally confident to tackle the more difficult routines from the game. I'm also really happy to work with lyrics I understand and can relate to. I start with the epic Sushi Extreme by Mark & Kremont.
K-pop is still on the menu, but I decided that in 2025, life doesn't have to be a constant chore. I also allowed myself to gain a quarter of an inch for the winter months. Next, I take on Despacito Extreme up to chorus (twice). During editing, I realized that at moments I'm off doing my own thing in there, so I'll have to get to the bottom of that. I've mega-starred both these extremes several times in the past, but only after filming have I been able to see exactly what I'm doing. So the work continues.
Dark Horse is a song by Katie Perry that strongly resonates with me. It is also my favorite map from Ubisoft. It means so much. I've been wanting to film this choreo for a very long time, so I decided to do it properly on high heels. In order to look and feel like I'm born on high heels, I started doing high heel tutorials. Interestingly, they only come in Russian like the vast majority of K-pop tutorials that are not in Korean.
You're On My Mind by Imposs ft. Taylor Perry is one of my favorite songs in the game and the dance, while not extreme, combines several different moves from other very popular routines which makes the choreo so endearing. The difficulty is to transition from one map to another between coaches.
ShutDown is an intrapolation of Niccolò Paganini's 'III. Rondo à La Clochette'. It was intended for my experimental blog due to vfx mimicking system shutdown, but it is too much of a musical and choreographic accomplishment to not include it in this series. The blog itself celebrates unlimited creative freedom mixed with serious conversations with my AI. It is never the same.
December 1, 2024. I tried to hate Christmas really hard, but I gave up. For some reason I am sensing hints and pixels of a 2014 Christmas vibe setting on early and lasting into late winter next year. There is something about that time of innocence, naiveté and optimism from 10 years ago that appears to be quietly returning. It is a very counter-intuitive vibe (in light of everything that is going on) but it appears to show up independently from whatever is happening.
This also means that 11 years ago, it was just as independent from world events as it is now, but we used to attribute our bright feelings to the blind trust we had in our world leaders, our institutions, our elect-representatives, and our justice systems. Although literally everything in the realm of trust has collapsed since then, the non specific vibing mood appears to be seeping back on. Lightness of being is remarkably more bearable than the other version.
These are from my kpop dance practice series. I am heavily influenced by Kpop both in music and dance. These choreographies are usually performed in typical combat boots (which I love btw). Not today. Here, I'm doing the chorus of Chk Chk Boom by Stray Kids twice at 100%, the chorus of Untouchable by Itzy, once at 90% and 3 x the chorus of Miovv by Miovv at 100%. These songs were all released in 2024 and dance practice videos of the full songs are always available online.
Dance happens to be the only thing AI can't do at all, so humans continue having a significant advantage in that regard. Kpop is, in that specific window of relevance, likely, solving the greatest existential crisis we've ever faced as human beings. If you can follow the moves of a kpop chorus, first in your head, then with your body, you can convince yourself with certainty that you are not a bot. If anyone ever accuses you of being a bot, respond with a kpop chorus routine.