World-class dancers RIKIMARU and SANTA are blowing up online after unbelievable performance on Chinese variety show ‘CHUANG2021’
RIKIMARU and SANTA from the Japanese-Chinese boy group WARPs UP are blowing up on social media following their performance on the highly popular Chinese music variety show ‘CHUANG2021’. Following their incredible dance performance on the show, multiple hashtags in Chinese praising the boys’ dance skills such as #赞多力丸太能跳 began trending on social media platform Weibo, and posts with these hashtags have already been viewed more than 60 million times.
RIKIMARU and SANTA made their appearance on ‘CHUANG2021’ in the spirit of intercultural exchange, which is the defining concept of WARPs UP, a Japanese-Chinese collective that transcends national borders and genres.
It also helps that they are unbelievably skilled performers. RIKIMARU provides choreography for many famous artists, while SANTA is a world-champion title-holding dancer who has won esteemed global dance battles. The pair demonstrated these world-class skills on ‘CHUANG2021’, and they soon had the panel of mentors and the audience of fellow participants on their feet to excitedly cheer them on.
Trainees Get So Excited on This Show from Rikimaru & Santa（创造营 CHUANG2021）
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqlgH3_qgok
Santa's Freestyle Dance is AMESOME! Can't Take My Eyes Out of Him!（创造营 CHUANG2021）
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2nW87y0q0w
OUTSTANDING Dancing Part！ RikiMaru Choreography！ （创造营CHUANG2021）
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhSmDDAaV_0
Jia, a popular singer and actress in China who was previously a member of the K-pop group Miss A, also praised their dance performance on her Weibo account.
https://weibo.com/missajia?topnav=1&wvr=6&topsug=1&sudaref=weibo.com&display=0&retcode=6102&is_all=1
Praise for the performance soon spread beyond China, as Gloria Groove, the Brazilian superstar who sang the original version of ‘A CAMINHADA’ which RIKIMARU and SANTA performed on the show, took to Instagram to praise the boys to the singer’s 2 million followers.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLZbDTaB8zh/
And in Japan, too, fans have posted comments on social media such as “These guys are on another level” and “The quality of their dancing is through the roof”.
WARPs UP will release ‘SUPERNOVA’, their fourth single in four consecutive months, as a Premiere release on YouTube on February 25.
WARPs UP ‘SUPERNOVA’ music video – limited edition:
And while you wait for the new single to drop, you can check out the intense dance skills of WARPs UP’s members in the following music videos:
WARPs UP ‘Cloud 9’ music video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw6BD32pSTw
WARPs UP ‘One Hundred degrees’ music video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKUhHNx7OGM
‘CHUANG2021’ is a hugely popular music variety show broadcast in China and produced by Tencent Video. Since the series began life in 2018 under the name ‘Produce 101 China’, it has launched the careers of popular groups such as Rocket Girls 101 and boyband R1SE.
The panel of mentors includes stars of the Chinese entertainment industry such as actor Deng Chao, actress Ning Jing, onetime f(x) member Amber, singer Zhou Shen, previous ‘CHUANG’ graduate Zhou Zhennan, and Thai singer Nene, who performed in last year’s series.
In addition to artists from China, the show has welcomed performers from around the world, including Japan, under the theme of intercultural exchange.
The show is broadcast weekly on Saturdays at 21:00 JST.
