When you ask people what they know about K-Pop, one of the top answers is guaranteed to be "amazing dancing." The fast, obsessively synchronized dances peak many non--fans' interest and can be powerful enough to move even the most begrudging anti. I know I’ve fallen in love with certain acts purely due to their dancing.
If you are K-Pop fan who is interested in dance, like myself, you are probably aware of the big name choreographers - Keone & Mari Madrid, The Quicksilver Crew, Lia Kim, Sugawara Koharu, Ian Eastwood - but there are infinite amounts of brilliant people who work behind the scenes to create these entrancing stages that we fall in love with. Many of them never get any recognition for their incredibly creative dances, unless they make themselves known as the choreographers of these works.
My current choreographer crush, and soon to be yours too, is Rie Hata.
Rie Hata
She is responsible for a myriad of k-pop choreographies, in addition to running a dance crew called Queen of Swag, and most currently another crew, Rie Hata Tokyo.
RieHataTokyo at 2017 MDT Dance Awards
Born in Japan in 1990, Rie Hata already has numerous credits to her name. She first began posting videos of her choreographies back in 2008 and since then has steadily grown her career as a dancer, teacher, entrepreneur and choreographer.
Here are just a few of the many performances that Rie Hata is responsible for. I'm sure you recognize at least one of these!
BTS
IDOL
Mic Drop
Airplane pt. 2
Anpanman
Bonus: Here's an adorable video of Rie Hata and one of her sons on Instagram, announcing her role as the choreographer of "Airplane Pt. 2" and "Anpanman."
Red Velvet
Bad Boy
Bonus: Rie Hata talks about changing up Red Velvet's concept with her choreography for "Bad Boy." Check it out here!
VIXX
Scentist
NCT
NCT Dream - We Go Up
NCT U - Boss
BoA
Nega Dola
ZICO
Artist
Rie Hata makes an appearance in this MV as well, showing up around the 1:22 minute mark.
Artist - Live at 2017 MAMA Japan
Rie Hata and her crew also joined Zico on stage for the 2017 MAMA performance in Japan. You can see her jump out to start the stage, wearing the red hoodie and sunglasses.
VARIETY
Rie Hata has also appeared as choreographer on a few dance survival shows, like South Korea's Hit The Stage and China's Hot Blood Dance Crew.
Lu Han and Rie Hata on Hot Blood Dance Crew
U-Kwon (Block B) and Rie Hata on Hit The Stage
U-Kwon (Block B) and Rie Hata Rehearsal for Hit The Stage
OTHER WORKS
Rie Hata has also choreographed for American artists, most notably for Chris Brown's song "Party." You can see her make another cameo appearance below in the official music video.
Chris Brown - Party (ft Gucci Mane & Usher)
In addition to being a choreographer, Rie Hata is the mother of two children with fellow dancer, Kamiya Yuki. She also has her own fashion line called Qoffee Shop which you can check out here.
As you can see, the woman is a force to be reckoned with. Her choreographies are a wonderful mix of swagger and whimsy, and she has proved herself capable of creating stages that hit hard and leave you reeling. Her dances are characterized by high intensity energy throughout the entire song, leaving even the audience winded. Rie Hata is here to play with the big boys and she is flexing on them hard. Look out for her pieces, I have no doubt she's only going to get more and more recognition from here on out.
Get your Rie Hata fix whenever you want by checking out her official website, YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook.