Stray Kids (SKZ) Felix Dance Analysis

Known for his mesmerizing deep voice, the member is rarely mentioned for his dancing skills. 

Despite training for less than a year, he improved quickly and debuted with the rest of the members. Felix is part of the danceracha, and there is a reason why he's part of the line. Today, we're going to break down why.

Felix spent around 9 months in JYP,  learning about the basics and fundamentals of dancing, rapping, and singing. However, prior to learning dance in JYP, Felix already had his own foundations and basics. These foundations are what give his dancing his own signature or style. It allows him to look different from the person next to him while maintaining the integrity of that style. Although his foundation isn’t part of the traditional dance genre. It does contribute to the way he executes movements and the way he controls his limbs. Particularly his.,

LEGS

Felix practiced Taekwondo when he was younger, a martial art practice, unlike the other popular ones. Spending 12 years learning the techniques, he is bound to build mental and muscle memory. Through repetition and practice, his body reacts to movements with taekwondo techniques. Like it was second nature. 

Taekwondo places heavy emphasis on kicking, especially kicks feature jumping or spinning of that sort. This is why the legs play a crucial role in said martial art, and it's reflected in Felix’s dance. One simple influence can be seen from how easy it is for Felix to lift his knees, high enough to reach his torso. In most kicks in taekwondo, the knee is elevated before the kick is thrown, creating an angle or, a chamber, between the upper leg and the ground before the athlete rotates the knee and commits to the kick.

Taekwondo also requires athletes to actively shift their body weight between the lower extremities while the upper extremities are moving. This type of movement necessitates stabilizing the body for efficient movement of the extremities to maintain balance during these dynamic activities. 

On top of that, a good kicking technique requires dexterity, flexibility, and mobility of the joints, especially the hip joint. Flexibility is an art itself, and it contributes to improving your strength and stamina while learning Taekwondo. TaeKwondo requires the legs to be flexible in order to throw the kicks with the most speed and power you can muster. One of the ways to score points in Taekwondo is to hit the head, which explains why leg flexibility is necessary.

These two aspects allow Stray Kids to add more acrobatic movements to their choreography. Although all the members are able to do some acrobatics movements, Felix is entrusted with kick turns often in most of the performances. This was probably established even before they debuted. For example, during the JYP Vs YG trainee battle, Felix stood out from the crowd when asked to do roundhouse kicks because of his speed and the elevation in his kicks. 

Aside from kicks, Taekwondo has influnece over his footwork. Footwork doesn’t just involve your feet, you can utilize your legs to can take your body to different levels and make your changes look more drastic. Basic key movements such as bending your knees to dip lower or relevé to reach up high. Felix bears this in mind as he has a good range of motion in the lower half of his body. Take a look at the following examples.

Exhibit A.
Exhibit B.

The many different types of kicks involved in Taekwondo have to be thrown with speed, precision, and power. As a result, his leg movements are always clear and sharp. Felix is also able to create amazing and powerful extensions. This is perfectly shown in the My Pace choreography, where Felix lifts his legs to the side very high, making the movement look more full out and filling a lot of space. 

Although Changbin also looks full out, it still doesn’t look as wide as Felix’s. That is because Felix fully extended his knees, creating a straight line, with full speed. Whereas Changbin still bent his knees whilst kicking.

His habit of raising his knees first to kick is also what sets him apart from most of the members. After raising his knees, he flicks from the knees. Whereas the rest of the members put force on their heels or flick from their ankles.

There are also other side effects that Felix gain from learning Taekwondo. One of the mentioned by-products was,

SPEED

Speed, as defined by the dictionary, refers to the act of moving quickly or swiftly, it is the same in dancing. Speed is part of dance technical skills. It comes from having enough strength and coordination to move fast without sacrificing articulation or artistry. 

Speed is important in taekwondo, as sparring matches only last a short two minutes. Being able to kick faster gives you an advantage against your opponent. 

Let’s use My Pace again as an example. Felix differs from the group because of the speed of his kick. His kick looks cleaner and more energetic compared to the members. Aside from the accuracy of his kick, speed is also an essential element to striking harder, more so than mass. But how come Felix looks so effortless whilst still looking powerful and clean? Felix doesn’t put pressure on his leg. Being relaxed enables for more fluidity in your motion, which also leads to faster and more accurate kicks. 

His speed is also evident in his turns. Kick turns are often utilized in Taekwondo, hence his muscle memory allows him to have faster turns. This can be seen from his various roundhouse and turn-back kicks and dance-related turns. As shown from these examples.

Exhibit A. 
Exhibit B.

His fast footwork is also part of the result of his Taekwondo training. Taekwondo techniques and there are many parts of the foot that are used as a striking tool depending on the type of kick executed. The part of the foot that often are used is the ball of the feet. Staying on the ball of the feet allows the dancer to execute footwork with more speed and power. As well as allowing smoother and faster transition to the next movement. The following clips perfectly show the explanation.

Exhibit A. 
Exhibit B. 
Exhibit C.

Felix’s speed also allows him to mask his weakness. Felix often appears small in size especially, when dancing with the danceracha. Felix has a lean and toned body, however, next to Lee Know’s big build and Hyunjin with his incredible height, he appears smaller. 

However, where he lacks in size, he makes up with speed. There are various reasons as to why people with smaller build have an advantage in terms of speed and force, such as heat dissipation, gravitational pull, lever arm, and finally, lower body and skeletal mass. 

The acceleration of the body is proportional to the force generated, but inversely proportional to the body mass, according to Newton’s second law. This implies an inverse relationship between height and performance in dancing. In other words, even if they apply the same amount of power, folks with a smaller build will have more speed than those with a larger build. Hence why big monsters in movies move slowly.

Let’s take the Side Effect as an example. There is a reason why Side Effect is considered Felix’s era. The choreography focuses on the different dynamics of speed. What differs Felix's movement from the rest is how quick and precise his movements are. For example.

However, he doesn’t compromise being clean in order to achieve great speed. Felix’s movement is precise and defined. His moves look like moving pictures, each move is defined and can be seen clearly. This is because he has clear,

PATHWAY

To be a cleaner dancer, it’s critical that you think about the pathway of the movements. In dance, pathway refers to the path or pattern made by a body part through space, on the ground, or in the air. Pathways can be straight, angular, curving, symmetrical, asymmetrical, or any combination of these.

As mentioned there are 2 kinds of pathway, one of them is air pathway. Air pathway is usually shown through arm movements. Take Side Effects again as an example. During the infamous chorus,notice how his right arm go diagonally side to side whilst the left arm goes back and forth. His air pathway, which is diagonal, is very clear and consistent. Whereas the other members move their arms aimlessly, as if they air punching the air. Other examples can be seen in Thunderous. 

Exhibit A. 
During the turn, the choreography requires the members to create a circular motion starting with the right arm, followed by the left arm. Felix display this circular motion clearly, because he raised his arms higher and moved his arms widely. Furthermore, he pulled his shoulders back so that the elbow turn is more clear as he is showing his back to the audience.

Exhibit B.
The move accentuates the bell that rang 4 times before the beat drops. Here, Felix's arm movement can be seen clearly. He first stretches out his left arm horizontally, followed by a quick shift between his left and right three times, and finally, he stretches out his left arm again vertically. Notice as while he shifts between his left and right arm, his arm slowly goes up making the L shape clearer.

Pathway can be defined as a pattern done on the ground as well. Another reason why Felix looks clean is because when he is moving to a new formation, the patterns he creates during his move is distinct. Take this TOP choreography where the members had to slide their way to the next formation. The way Felix turns his body to the side makes the perfect semi-circle. 

Lastly, it must be mentioned, his immense stage presence. He often starts or ends the performance as he demands attention from the viewers. Felix’s voice and presence determine the momentum and direction of each performance. For example. His presence is enough to singlehandedly transition Side Effect to Gods Menu and Gods Menu back to Side Effect. 

Ultimately, it all comes full circle. All the training he received from Taekwondo helps him develop his speed, which he perfectly pair with accuracy. In return, making him a better dancer and a performer. 

On top of Felix's charismatic gaze and voice, his incredible dancing skills is the reason why he is the core of Stray Kids performance and music. Proving once again, why he deserves to be in Stray Kids.