Photo courtesy|KISS OF LIFE Thailand ‘Songkran Festival’ stage (S2 Entertainment)
On stage, the sound of breathing can be heard. Between movements that had been aligning perfectly, a faint quiver of breath seeps in. In another time, this would have been regarded as a ‘mistake’. But now it is different. That small tremor, rather, makes the moment last longer.
There was also a time when such scenes felt unfamiliar. In BoA performances, singing and dancing had to be completed simultaneously without a hint of wavering. As this expanded to idol groups, that standard was refined into the form of ‘knife-like group choreography’. A corps in which many move like a single body, trajectories and timing matched without a shake. In that way, K-pop grew into an industry that created ‘performances close to perfect’. And for a long time, that perfection was its most powerful competitive edge. Yet the more perfection was maximized, the more predictable the stage became: accurate, stable performances that show the same result wherever you see them. Within that, tension, breath, and spontaneity gradually faded. The stage grew stronger, but, ironically, ‘the human’ felt faint.
Recently, a different current can be sensed on stage. The performances of KISS OF LIFE caught the eye. Through a recent No. 1 stage on ‘M Countdown’ and at the Songkran Festival in Thailand, even amid intense choreography they continued with handheld microphones; while it was not a perfectly tidied result, it created moments in which the breath of the moment was revealed. It was a moment that showed what a living performance is.
This current does not stay with a single group. Now K-pop performances are not consumed by one standard but have become content reinterpreted through diverse perspectives. And in that process, stages that are a bit imperfect and a bit unpredictable are beginning to carry greater meaning.
On YouTube and short-form platforms, fancams and MR-removed videos spread quickly, and reactions continue toward performances in which the process of the stage is revealed as it is. Not a perfectly hidden performance, but an exposed one. That difference is changing the stages of today. Interestingly, such performances also generate diverse interpretations and debates.
Overseas responses point in the same direction. Among major music outlets such as Billboard and NME and within the global fandom, alongside fatigue with perfectly engineered performances, interest is also continuing in the human appeal where live elements are revealed. Rather than performances that are perfectly replicated, even the same choreography is beginning to leave a stronger impression when it comes alive differently depending on the venue.
Music and culture, the closer they come to a peak, the more they change and evolve again. Now it is time for K-pop to ask itself. What were the strengths of K-pop? Was it a perfectly and elaborately designed system? Perhaps its essence lies in the flexibility that makes all of that possible while being able at any time to return to the ‘domain of people’.
Not movements that match perfectly, but the rhythm of the body that trembles in between. Not an exact angle, but the breath that is created only in that moment. To these eyes, K-pop performance now seems to be moving from ‘perfect dance’ to ‘living dance’. In small breaths and fine tremors, in the breath created between them, the audience feels a living stage.
An industry that produces perfection, and a choice that can shake that very perfection. A structure that holds both at the same time, could that be the direction K-pop performance should take?
(Foundation) Good Art Culture Foundation ‘Performance and People’ Institute Director | Leo Kang
