I woke up for a 4 am livestream of a musical produced by my favorite idol group and apparently my favorite member who is purple plays a shy character who has a crush on the theater troupe's lead songstress. (She does wear purple in the musical but her character's usual uniform isn't). She faints a couple times because of it 🤣 (She also plays a cook so I can 100% sneak her into Toufu 😏)
And then there's Rita "Jealousy Brasieri" Kaniska. Rita "If Morfonia asks, I will unmask for her" Kaniska. Rita "I am impartial, but if you're in any danger, I want to save you" Kaniska.
It was unlikely with Upfront and their obsession with more members to have more individual events but I wanted Biyo to keep the same members and get older together even if they lost a few members. I wanted them to be like Momoclo and keep going and challenge more activities as they become more mature.
Three eras of Momoclo doing Believe: 6-nin rookie energy, hottest rising stars Z, and assured veterans Diamond 4.
Unfortunately, the imperial phase is the weakest. This is a song and choreography that needs snap to crackle, and the smooth paced 2022 version ain't it.
Like, they're not doing anything technically wrong? On beat, precise moves, grace from this dance being inscribed into their bones over the course of a decade and a half.
But the walk says it all: they're merely walking. In the earlier perfs, it's still dancing, a bounce or a stomp.
When the Diamond 4 move, they hit their marks exactly. But in the earlier perfs, the overshooting (especially Reni's signature overexaggeration) is what gives it energy. It's like they're performing it angrily, in some ways, and it's great.
Now, the sync formation nature of the choreo makes it have its best impact on a smaller stage, which helps. But even during the Z era, you can see them trying to play to the most far away rafters, with a whole new frontier of things to prove.
In 2022, the world is their oyster, and it's coming to them. This opens space for them to try a more nuanced and personal approach to the material.
But this isn't exactly the song to do it with. That choreo NEEDS the extra pop to bring out its impact, of the relentless unified force about to run us all over to pair with the driving beats of the music.