“A dancer dies twice – once when they stop dancing, and this first death is the more painful.”
Martha Graham
BTS released their new song “Black Swan” at 6 pm KST today, claiming the song was inspired by a famous quote from Martha Graham (1894-1991), the godmother of modern dance in the United States.
Classic footwork usually looks for a straight line. However, Graham, who is known as a pioneer of modern dance at the beginning of the XXth century, choreographed a dance line which curves through the “spray and relaxation” of his muscles, and would have changed the version of dance .
Jang Kwang-yeol, artistic director of the International Performing Arts Project, dance critic, said that the United States is the birthplace of modern dance, adding that Graham’s status in modern dance is excellent.
◇ “Black Swan “, BTS sublimates its ferocious artistic confession.
Along with the great Graham, BTS also bring “Black Swan”, one of the characters representative of the world of ballet. “Black Swan” refers to the black swan.
The main dancer, who plays the elegant swan “Odeal” in the Tchaikovsky ballet “Swan Lake”, will even play the sensual opposite black jay “Odeet”. It is a very difficult dance not only emotionally but also skillfully, in which a dancer.
If you are a true fan of ballet, you are well aware of the difficulty of the movements of this magnificent black swan, between the folds and stretching of one leg and the other leg.
The character of Blackswan is also well known for his film “Black Swan” (directed by Darren Aronofsky, 2010), starring Hollywood star Natalie Portman and choreographed by Benjamin Milfeye, world renowned choreographer in France. It is a grotesque representation of the cruelties and desires that wiggle inside Valerina, a symbol of purity and elegance.
“Blackswan ” is a character hard enough to draw praise for Graham, in which BTS spoke of death, adding that it is difficult to digest unless it is technically difficult and artistically perfected. What BTS will mention about death is his desire to show his artistic status.
In addition to the song “Black Swan”, BTS also presented the Slovenian contemporary dance team “MN Dance Company” and the art film of MN Dance Company, which was created through collaboration.
The art film, which begins with the aforementioned phrase from Graham’s famous lyrics, features seven dancers from the MN dance company, each representing BTS members, reinterpreting the feelings of the song with modern dance , with perfect performance.
Big Hit Entertainment, the BTS agency, presented a video with which the eyes are attracted by an original choreography and a sensual visual beauty reminiscent of the “Black Swan”, who was born against hardship and adversity, in the context of an unreal space.
“This time the concept of music and video is to link existing folk art to pure art and promote value and beauty in high-end art,” said Jang
◇ Extension of BTS to global vision and pure art
The world view of BTS has been broadened like this. The vision of the world aims to identify the world which encompasses not only intellectual but also practical and emotional aspects. BTS is a group that has actively introduced this vision of the world.
The vision of the world, which was a term for philosophy, came to highlight the temporal, spatial and ideological context that forms the basis of the scenario, as it moved on to games and films. It is the skeleton that makes up the overall story of the characters. Large Hollywood film studios such as “Marvel Cinematic Universe”, “DC Extended Universe” and “Dark Universe” have also built such a worldview.
BTS, which has dominated kpop’s “Billboard 200” three times, is said to have broadened the spectrum of world pop music beyond kpop with a vision of the world.
Whenever they released albums such as “학교 3 부작”, “청춘 2 부작”, “러브 유어 셀프”, the band would narrate in a serial format and create a worldview that would appeal to fans. This consensus led to the creation of a global fandom. His name is Bangtan Universe (BU).
With the new song “Black swan” and this video “Art Film”, BTS came to transmit its philosophy and its message to the world through its meeting with new fields of contemporary art as well as music.
Previously, BTS also worked with contemporary art to promote its new album “Map of the Sol: 7”, which will be released. Art Place, an exhibition planning and operating company, launched on January 14 “CONNECT BTS”, a contemporary art exhibition project co-organized by BTS and international artists, at the Surfentain Gallery in London. .
Bang Si-hyuk, graduate of the Department of Aesthetics at Seoul National University, CEO and producer of Big Hit Entertainment, South Korean art director Lee Dae-hyung (former art director of the Venice Biennale), and BTS members have thought long and hard about the whole design. The director was responsible for general planning. Ben Vickers and Kay Watson of London, Stephanie Rosenthal and Noemi Solomon of Berlin and Thomas Arnold Curator of New York participated as planners for each country’s exhibition projects.
“The integration between pure art and folk art is the current global trend in the cultural world,” said Jang. “It is remarkable and desirable that BTS intends to capture the movement of pure dance and spirituality. The members of BTS themselves have many talents and artistic talents, so they have raised this level artistically and have even more differentiated, “he said.
Even before the release of the art film, the dance troupe’s home page was on “stand by” due to traffic overflows as interest in the contemporary dance troupe “Men Dance Company”, based on the Novagory Tea of Slovenia, was increasing. The team was congratulated for its contribution to the popularization of modern dance. In the fandom Army, it is expected that another modern dance project will be in place while JIMIN of BTS learned modern dance.
BTS will release their fourth full album “Map of the Soul: 7” on February 21. Album exceeded 3.42 million pre-orders in a week, setting the record for the highest number of pre-orders ever recorded for a BTS album.
Journalist: Shawn
Translaor: Shawn
Source: BIG HIT Entertainment
