Did ATEEZ Wooyoung Throw Shade at 'SMF' Dancer Vata for Plagiarism? Here's What Happened
ATEEZ Wooyoung's recent actions at a concert had garnered attention, with netizens speculating that he is throwing shade at Street Man Fighter dancer Vata for plagiarism.
Keep on reading to know more.
'Street Man Fighter' Dancer Vata Accused of Plagiarizing ATEEZ's Dance Move
The Mnet dance survival show Street Man Fighter, which is the male version of their highly-successful Street Woman Fighter, is well on its way with the show being halfway finished.
But amidst the intense rivalry among the dancers and dance crews, the show has been plagued with various controversies even before it offcially aired. Some of the controversies surrounding the show include accusations of favoritism, questionable voting decisions, sexist comments by producers, and more.
Mnet's 'Street Man Fighter'
Recently, dancer Vata, a member and the leader of the We Dem Boyz dance crew, drew attention for his choreography for Zico's new single "New Thing." On the show, the dancers were challenged to create a choreography for "New Thing."
Vata's choreography ended up getting chosen and named the winner of the challenge. Since then, it has become a popular dance challenge and was even covered by members of ENHYPEN, ITZY, NCT Dream, fromis_9, and more.
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'Street Man Fighter' dancer Vata's choreography for Zico's 'New Thing'
However, the intro of Vata's choreography drew attention for being closely similar to the choreography in the chorus of ATEEZ's 2019 release, "Say My Name." The dance for "Say My Name" was choreographed by Josh Smith and Anze Skrube.
ATEEZ's choreography for 'Say My Name'
This eventually led to a debate among fans on whether or not the dance move was copied, and accusations of plagiarism were brought up.
Amidst the accusations, Vata has yet to address the issue. However, it has been noted that the dance intro was excluded from the official dance video of "New Thing," making speculations arise that the dancers are aware of the plagiarism accusations.
ATEEZ Wooyoung Reportedly Shades Vata in Latest Performance
Following the issue, fans believe that ATEEZ member Wooyoung indirectly takes a jab at Vata during the group's recent performance at the 2022 KCON Saudi Arabia.
In particular, each of the ATEEZ members took to center stage to show off their dance skills during a dance break. When it came to Wooyoung's turn, he seemingly took this as an opportunity to send a message.
ATEEZ Wooyoung doing the 'copy' or 'biting' hand sign
During his dance break, Wooyoung can be seen doing a "copy" or "biting" hand sign, a gesture used by street dancers to signal that the following move was created by another dancer without giving respect or credit. Right after doing the hand sign, Wooyoung proceeded to do the signature dance move from "Say My Name."
This "copy" or "biting" hand sign was also seen during an episode of Street Man Fighter, which was done by dancer 5000 (also known as Ocheon).
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Although ATEEZ hasn't spoken up about the issue surrounding the choreography for "New Thing," fans believe that this is a clear jab towards the Street Man Fighter dancer.
What do you think?
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Written by Robyn Joan
