DANCING WITH KIM HYUN JOONG by Aprilstarr

nice review! ^_^

CREDIT: http://hyunniespexers.wordpress.com/2011/11/26/2011-11-25-dancing-with-kim-hyun-joong/
PHOTO CREDIT: Keyeast Entertainment

What attracted you most to Kim Hyun Joong? His singing ,his dancing or the whole package? A friend who has closely watched KHJ through the years said he is an artist better appreciated using the eyes and the ears. I say better with all your senses. I can hear your whhhhhhat? Okay calm down, ladies and gents of all ages. I know that is the ultimate fangirling of all. I am not imagining this: I have read and been told of fan accounts that recalled how he smells. Seriously .They say he is odorless. I think what they mean is he is not reeking of those powerful, laboratory manufactured man scent. Nor does he even smell of man sweat. Just pure unadulterated sweet Hyun Joong. However, to most of us ,the closest we can get to him is /was, tears aside(hu hu hu), through the monitors of our, sniff, sniff, laptops and PC’s. This world is not fair, admit it, but thanks to the internet and all the wondrous social media sites we are almost there. High definition videos streaming or uploaded in YouTube almost make us believe we can actually touch him. But who knows by some scientific breakthrough, we might get nearer to that reality in our lifetime. Or see Hyun Joong in the next life hereafter.

A second best way is to go through what people who work closest with him for many years say about him.His dancers,for example, who he fondly call his Hyungs, although there is one now younger than him. And of course their US based choreographer Lyle Beniga who stayed with the group for a week shy of a month for the breakthrough Breakdown mini album and what he thought about him.

We all see the results on stage. Our eyes glued on him during the duration of the number even as we have seen the same scene over and over again.And how our mind replayed them ,too. Dripping in perspiration, he nevertheless,showed relentlessly this is how a performer should be. We are sometimes allowed some peeks into their practice room. Euphemistically called behind the scenes we saw him all exhausted, head bent down, closing his eyes for a second or two recharging himself, or heaving a sigh of relief on a just concluded part of the dance routine or even collapsing on the floor. But then he picks himself up and studiously peer into the monitor with his dancers, correcting what steps needed adjustment, or just perfecting as closest to the ideals as possible. I sometimes wonder, when and did Hyun Joong ever show moods or does he express and subsequenbtly displace that energy whatever through exercises, a soccer game, drinking and going to sleep silently. After all he is not a saint nor an angel, though he may look like one complete with a halo when photographed with back lighting or diffused lighting giving him that aura and special glow.

His dancers all agree he is a hard worker. Lyle Beniga adds the word, extremely. He has high endurance, forever gulping down water which is good for an actively perspiring dancer. His work ethics is exactly how Geoff Colvin in his book ,Talent is Overrrated, describe winners. Of course he has not heard of Hyun Joong as his examples were Tiger Woods and several great musicians who like him put themselves in deliberate, sustained,intrinsically motivated practices. But his description fit Hyun Joong to a T. For instance, dancing skills is a talent /gift he willed himself to acquire. Unlike ordinary mortals he does not give up what he thinks is a goal obtainable with his self propelled efforts. Knowing his capacities he knew he had to put himself into it,perhaps more than anybody else . And look, his investment in himself resulted in the dividends he is reaping now. It took years,not mere months,and other world pleasures he must have given up to pursue his objectives. He led a different life from his school peers, but it was a choice and a decision in his young mind then with high impact consequences later. Once he was told, “working hard is not the same as doing well.” Now he can say,”I’ve done both”.

Doesn’t he ever get tired, why is he on high with his dancing his hyungs would wonder. He would ask them to play soccer with him at night after the dance practice even with all their muscles sore with all the jumping, swinging, twisting and turning. Playing soccer, though it is in the field of sports, extend the flexibility of its practitioners. Didn’t they know they were extending their dancing process in the soccer field? Another hyung thought Hyun Joong should set up his company, well, he might just get there sooner or later because he is studying stage performance management in a university. Some are thinking they can’t be dancing all the time,all their lives, same thoughts Hyun Joong has also processed in his mind. What is important right now is doing an excellent job of dancing and to get their feedback by winning awards, performing their best and maintaining our collective accolades.

Dancing or any other skills Hyun Joong has shown being embedded in our appreciating minds and hearts have been demystified :it is all about honing the human abilities. But they are honed and maintained not haphazardly but in specific ways. Hyun Joong knows if he has to excel, he must be able to put up with the demands of his craft, physically, mentally and to sacrifice his social life if need be.

Dance, for Hyun Joong is not simply passion, it is rocket science. Dancing with him mean putting that much energy, efficiency, and most of all developing that team effort -becoming members of one tribe. The Kim Hyun Joong tribe. Hyun Joong inspires, leads and set the directions and it will not be surprising if he has become an icon in his own rights in the truest sense of the word.