Le Sserafim Dance Analysis

Le Sserafim, one of the most recent girl groups to debut under HYBE and Source Music, garnered a lot of traction for their stunning visuals, beautiful vocals, and, of course, powerful yet catchy choreographies. Regardless of only debuting over six months as a group, they have shown professionalism, growth, and skills when it comes to dancing. In this video, we will highlight the member’s dance skills and debunk why they are such excellent performers.

SAKURA

Sakura has a history of being the center, be it in AKB48, iz one, HKT48, or Le Sserafim. Aside from her beauty, she has a captivating and powerful charisma. Her stage experience leads her to pick some valuable hints. Such as understanding what angles work best, what expressions to use to elicit specific emotions, or what gestures to do, helped her become a more balanced performer. She never overdoes or underdoes anything, but most importantly, she has firmness in her femininity.

First and foremost, Sakura's dance style is highly feminine, and she thrives when the motions call for her to be elegant. As a result, she pays attention to small things that make her appear attractive, such as her fingers.

At the same time, she possesses exceptional arm strength and coordination, which works to her advantage. Aside from the face, the arms are one of the most apparent body components captured on camera during close-ups. Sakura achieves control and grace by increasing the strength, agility, and power of her arms.

There are several ways to display arm strength and power. The simplest form would be when a dancer could maintain a stable or static situation. Holding tension, a muscle activity utilized to preserve a static action, rather than to create motion, accomplishes this. The simplest example is visible as soon as the song starts. Observe how Sakura is the only member to exert force and tension until her arm comes to a full stop.

Speed is also a manifestation of arm strength since having muscle strength allows the arms to move more quickly. There are many cases where Sakura shows her incredible speed.

Take a close look at this section, where the original choreography requires the members to twist their wrists twice. Twisting their wrist twice in one count is challenging, hence why several members struggled to finish the move. But not Sakura; watch how she can do a full circle twice with her wrist in the same amount of time as the other members.

Another example was when they had to swiftly lower their arms after elevating each one at a time in the previous count. Sakura not only has the speed to do it, but she can fully extend her arms and bring them down in the same amount of time as the rest of the members.

CHAEWON

Chaewon's captivating moves are one of the direct products of her experience in iz one. She, like Sakura, recognizes that the head is the most visible body part captured on camera.

The head is often not utilized well to bring the movements to their best visual or forgotten all at once, resulting in the lines breaking in a motion. Chaewon, on the other hand, combines her head to create a larger picture. 

For example, here in Fearless, the original motion requires the members to move their hands and hips in the opposite direction. At first glance, Chaewon's movement seems more powerful and different from the rest. That is because she bends her head, following the motion of the hips. As a result, there is more negative space, which creates a greater contrast to the initial movement

She coordinates her hand motions with her head, which is efficient since she maximizes her movements. Her decision to include head motions is part of her knowledge of efficiency. Efficient movement is easy to spot—we all know when we see a dancer whose every move appears essential and unmannered.

Efficient dancers understand which muscle groups to employ and how to use them to get the same appearance as the original move but using less energy. Consider her foot positioning in this clip. Having the feet turned out provides for more hip mobility. That is why it is easier for Chaewon to bend lower than Sakura, who has her feet pointed forward.

Another instance is when she stands on her toes with her weight on her right leg, rather than tensing her left hip and placing her feet firmly on the ground like Kazuha. This way, Chaewon is able to lift her left hip more easily.

In this sequence, where they, ideally, should kick their left leg forward and hop to their next position, we can observe further instances of her effectiveness. She moves by bending her left leg because this action is unnatural for the body. The key point in this situation is her intention, as she concentrates on lifting her left leg rather than putting it down like Sakura. Despite performing the same action, you can sense the weight difference in their movement.

Transitional motions, such as this one, in which they must bend both knees inwards to the ground and then outwards, can also demonstrate efficiency. Because of her wider stance, it is easier for her to stand back up. By standing wider, she can bend her knees at a 90-degree angle and simply rotate her legs.

YUNJIN

Although she's not in the dance line, it's impossible to deny that whenever she performs, she simply takes center stage and commands your attention. This is due to her attitude and expressions; she has a genuine way of expressing her personality in her dance. 

The themes of Le Sserafim's title tracks so far fit with her coy, flirtatious, and playful personality. Yunjin has mastered the art of playing with the camera through her gaze, artistic choice of when to smile, when to look at the camera, or not, and even the way she stares at it.

Another reason your gaze is drawn to her is her tendency to exaggerate her motions. Partly because of her incredible height compared to the others. Being the tallest member after all, she would create a bigger negative space due to her long limbs, or have to bend even further to maintain an even level of line with the other members. To give you an idea, her hip isolation becomes more visible in the opening sequence of Anti Fragile because of her higher high hip and longer legs.

The second part would be that she's just dramatic or theatrical. In contrast to Sakura, her most prominent body part is in her lower half and torso. She has better leg mobility, extension, strength, and isolation. Her mobility and isolation are frequently visible when the choreography requires them to do hip isolation, as shown in the examples after this.

She also has no trouble jumping or raising her legs because her legs aren't as stiff. Which plays well to her strength since her long legs allow her to make a stronger visual impact. There are many instances where she emphasizes the jumps for the choreography, for example. 

However, it doesn't mean she lifts her legs in a wobbly or weak manner; she adds texture by adding stomps or flicks at the end. Lifting her legs seems so natural to her, that she can still elevate her leg properly while moving to the next position, which is not an easy task.

Unfortunately, the second reason would be due to using the incorrect body parts or having a lack of control. Yunjin's moves would irritate technical dancers since they are ineffective and inefficient, yet they add to her fun, flirtatious nature. That made her appear rebellious, loose, and wild.

With this in mind, concepts or songs like No Celestial, where the aesthetic is inspired by punk rock and the choreography is centered on free, wild motions, are ideal for her. But technically, most of their songs would, because their signature moves rely on hip movements.

KAZUHA

A person would undoubtedly have developed lasting habits after 15 years in any professional field. And to top it all off, it's ballet, one of the most physically demanding dance styles that force the body into specific postures that, if you're not used to them, will feel strange.

Ballet builds muscles that most people never develop. Ballet dancers have incredible articulation control, but it comes down to the core. The core is everything from the shoulders to the hips. Though this might not be the anatomical core, that area of the body is the core of ballet. How a dancer holds their shoulders affects their hips which in turn affects their legs; if the base is incorrect, the rest will be too. 

Ballet dancers, for example, are frequently instructed to bend from the hips to form a parallel line with the floor. Kazuha still does that to this day, as seen in the chorus of Antifragile. Watch how her body forms a straight line in an instant. Unlike the other members who attempted to bend from the core, she was able to bend from her hips because she places all of her weight on her right leg, which helps maintain her balance.

This could clearly affect their lines, and if you’re an avid viewer of this channel, this term is tossed around often. Lines are the paths that the dancer's limbs take through the space when they perform. One example of Kazuha's attention to lines may be found in this quick sequence from Blue Flame. She is the only member who makes a precisely perpendicular line due to her steady core and grounded and stable stance.

What makes her even more incredible is she continues to focus on extending her lines even during a movement. Transitions are important between large movements so that dancers maintain their energy throughout a piece. In this transitional kick, for example, notice how she slightly extends her legs longer than the others; you can feel the energy flowing out of her legs. However, it is still in line with the extensions she’s trying to create.

Another thing to note is that she tries not to break her lines. Observe how her legs are positioned in this sequence. Unlike the other members, who stand with their feet apart, her figure seems to be a single line. Continuous lines are visually appealing, conveying a feeling of poise, elegance, and feminine vitality. Her elegance, nevertheless, exudes power and firmness.

Hence why choreographies like Impurities work best for her, as it highlights the elegance and poise that Kazuha possesses. Blue Flame is another choreography that works in her favor as she’s able to demonstrate her lines, elegance, and cuteness.

EUNCHAE

Eunchae, the youngest member, adds the element of cuteness and elegance to Le Sserafim. And despite only entering the young age of 16, Eunchae never holds back when it comes to dancing and has shown professionalism and growth. She has demonstrated her ability to overcome challenges by learning the entire FEARLESS choreography in less than 2 hours and being able to be as clean for the debut.

Eunchae is a talented performer with great upper body control. She frequently stands out because she creates clear details and skillfully uses her fingers. It is unfortunate that the live cameras weren't able to capture the following sequence, but watch how Eunchae was the only member who highlighted the hand motion. 

Secondly, she has one of the best chest and shoulder isolation in Le Sserafim. Watch how she can create clear and large movements with her chest isolation in a short period of time. 

Regarding shoulder isolation, Eunchae can draw attention to the rhythmic structure of Kazuha's rap at the beginning of the second verse. Listen to how Kazuha enunciates each letter. She stretches out the 멋, but when she says 대로 정, she spat it out quickly. Eunchae portrays the same energy but with motion. She pulls her shoulder down once in the 멋, but she performs a strobing motion with highly distinct pauses for 대로 정.

Similar to Yunjin, she is on the taller side and will probably continue to grow even taller. That's why she will benefit from her ability to sell contrasting moves. As she levels down with the members, she will create a bigger negative space. To demonstrate, look how far apart her knees are compared to Chaewon's in this sequence. Or consider how low she bends to the side while remaining parallel to the ground in order to maintain an equal level with the members.

As of the release of this video, she has not yet established her own particular style or has any distinguishing characteristics about her dancing. Nonetheless, I am eager to watch her further developments. With her recent growth in strength and control from their debut to their recent comeback, there is no doubt she will improve.

All in all, the members are exceptional performers and dancers that fully embody the concept of being fearless and strong with their intense, fast, quick, and clean dance. Each member of Le Sserafim had a unique journey before joining HYBE, but with their distinctive talents and colors, they complete each other. And will continue to leave an impact on the 4th Generation of K-pop.