Filter
jiminuncut.wordpress.com/filter/
Written by: Cat
Whew. It’s time to talk about Filter, an electrifying solo number that Jimin brings alive through charisma, fancy footwork and a flurry of costume changes. Let’s break it down.
One thing to note right off the bat is how Jimin changes his performance ever so slightly from one night to the other. By emphasizing different moves, switching speeds and changing facial expressions, he’s able to show a different side of himself, or filter, each show.
We can see this even from the very first moves. Notice how his delivery on the first night was sharp and quick, punctuating the notes of the song. On the second night, however, his delivery is slow, deliberate, tantalizing. He’s easing the audience in and teasing what’s to come.
Here too. On the first night, Jimin does a single step out onto his left foot when putting on the hat, then some casual footwork. He follows it up with a flashy pose accentuated by a beautiful body line and both arms extended.
On the second night however, he does a kick out with his left foot before stepping 1, 2 into position. When he eases into the footwork, he adds a shoulder roll for flavour. In his final pose coming around, he only extends his top arm as the other holds his hat.
Taking pause to say this choreo is truly a vast combination of styles, and has a fun Latin flavour. Most moves are Latin-inspired instead of direct replicas. However, the stomps, claps, flourishes & fast footwork are to me most reminiscent of the Spanish Flamenco.
José Greco:
Here is another masterful show of Jimin’s command of the music. The way he can go from slow quick slow, stomping on beat before teasing the clothing off his shoulders – it gives the illusion that he’s suddenly moving in slow motion, or even through water
Jimin’s always excelled at travelling – moving quickly across the stage and using the whole space to dance. His dancing never feels cramped or contained to one spot. Here his moves seem especially larger than life, as you might see in Broadway dancing.
These are wonderfully extended moves, meaning Jimin’s stretching out his arms and legs fully to take up space and show off his body line. Also notice with how much ease his leg turns in and out on plié – he’s fantastic at this type of coordination.
Time to stop and admire how smooth this turn was. What’s unique about it is that Jimin’s turning on his back foot. Most turns push off the back foot and turn on the front foot. Here his front foot does little of the work and simply swings around to stop him facing the audience.
A common piece of footwork in this number is the use of heel toe pivots. Here Jimin uses his right leg to travel, simply from pivoting from his toe to his heel to his toe to his heel. His left leg drags along to follow and then brushes up.
The heel toe pivot is often done with both feet in opposite – your weight on the heel of one foot while on the toe of the other foot. Then you switch them, turning your feet in and out, constantly moving your weight and allowing you to shuffle sideways.
video cr. OTIS!
In this part, compare Jimin’s movement to the backup dancers. Notice how he ducks his head and then follows through with his shoulder. That quick-slow approach draws out the movement and his head and shoulder add dimension, elevating the quality of the move.
Here as well, a simple detail makes all the difference. Jimin’s flexed heel straightens his leg, showing off a nice line. The backup dancers instead step flatfoot and most of their legs remain bent. Jimin then does a quick shuffle kick to transition to the next part of the dance.
Shuffles can be found in many styles of dance – tap, step, Irish most folk dances in fact. They’re done by brushing the ball of your foot off the floor very quickly – first out, then in. If you have taps on your shoes, the sound really adds to your performance!
video cr. mahalodotcom
Here Jimin leads with his hip as he steps forward, then crosses behind for two quick steps. It really emphasizes that forward step. Then he goes into a smooth heel toe step, also known as Happy Feet. Though similar to the heel toe pivot, Happy Feet usually stay in place.
With Happy Feet, your feet don’t usually leave the floor, but stepping into the toe pivot can help you if you want to travel with it to the front or back. Jimin largely uses the stepping for flair and to accentuate the beats of music.
cr. MihranTV
Here are those Flamenco-esque claps, which are known as palmas. Flamenco uses many parts of the body as percussion, adding another layer to the music. Palmas using the fingers of one hand to hit the opposite palm and create a sharp sound are called claras.
Discrepancies in the camera angles show that at least the first half of the performance was prerecorded. And since all camera angles show the same cut scene leading into the costume change, it suggests it was done in two takes – not magically on the spot in 2 seconds. But still!
Now, turning back to a topic I always have time to talk about – Jimin’s insane leg/knee coordination. Even when stepping in and out and doing a million other things with his upper body, his legs are also turning in and out, just like they used to during the 3:33 move in Fire.
The glitter is flying now and Jimin brings even more pizzazz to the performance. This again feels more broadway or jazz – full of attitude and flair. Notice how his head, hands and extended leg have the same timing – that slow-quick-slow that makes the moves more dramatic.
And now the pièce de résistance. Throughout this song, Jimin seems to say “I can change myself and my clothes to match your tastes, but I can also be myself and wear my clothes and YOUR tastes will change to match ME.” It’s incredibly dominant and his smirk seals the deal.
And just notice the subtle difference from one night to the next. Purple Jimin gives off a cooler seductive vibe – instead of dominating, he challenges the viewer to come to him. He knows you can’t look away right now.
Next Jimin weaponizes his turnout. Already in a nice turned out second position, he brings each heel forward in turn, on beat. Notice how the opposite shoulder comes up at the same time, creating a nice line. And then he does a quick body roll to finish it off.
This is truly a dangerous performance meant to capture any number of hearts. The truly exciting thing about it is that it gives Jimin a lot of room to play – with the costumes and the execution of the moves. The more he performs it, the more filters we’ll be able to see.
