ATEEZ “Win” As Their “Stolen” Dance Move Is Immortalized In “Just Dance 2024”
The game will even be released on a day meaningful to the group!
Last year, ATEEZ were involved in plagiarism allegations involving one of the dancers who appeared on Street Man Fighter.
During the dance competition show, WDBZ crew member Vata was accused of plagiarism after being tasked to create choreography for Zico‘s track “New Thing.” Many viewers found the introduction of his dance to have a strong similarity to the choreography found in the chorus of ATEEZ’s track “Say My Name.”
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This was heavily debated, with even Wooyoung being believed to have made a “silent” statement about the alleged plagiarism.
Vata ultimately apologized, though he believed “the choreography its being compared to has a different transition and means something different entirely.” This denial led fans to protest, trending multiple tags related to the incident.
Now, fans are celebrating as the hotly contested dance move has been forever immortalized in a video game.
Just Dance is a rhythm game that features music from all around the world and, in recent years, has expanded to include a host of K-Pop tracks.
With Just Dance 2024’s release around the corner, gameplay previews have been shared online. On September 27, the preview for ATEEZ’s “Say My Name” was released.
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And while most tracks do not follow a song’s choreography exactly, like in the case of the normal version of BLACKPINK‘s “Kill This Love”…
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…”Say My Name”‘s Just Dance Extreme choreography includes the gliding dance move!
On top of this, Just Dance 2024 is set to come out on October 24, ATEEZ’s anniversary. Fans have been celebrating this “win” and huge accomplishment for the group!
Anze Skrube, ATEEZ’s Choreographer, Joins The Conversation About “Say My Name” Choreography Plagiarism
He made his stance clear!
Street Man Fighter contestant Vata has recently been caught up in a plagiarism scandal, which ATEEZ‘s Wooyoung has been praised for seemingly calling out on stage. Vata’s choreography that he was challenged to make for Zico‘s song “New Thing” — which ended up placing first in the challenge — includes a move that’s pretty much identical to the iconic “driving” dance move in ATEEZ’s “Say My Name”, leading to fans calling him out.
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The “silent” statement that Wooyoung made was during the group’s performance at 2022 KCON Saudi Arabia, in which during the dance break for “The Real” he performed the “biting” gesture that has long been used in the dancing community to call someone out for stealing choreography. Immediately after, he did a short version of the “driving” dance, further showing his intentions in calling Vata out.
He also did the “biting” gesture at another time, along with some of the dance moves from the “New Thing” choreography.
Wooyoung is being praised for his clear stance on the plagiarism accusations, and his refusal to ignore the issue is being supported by Anze Skrube, one of the choreographers of “Say My Name” himself!
Anze has taken to social media — specifically, his Instagram stories — to join the conversation about the “driving” dance move plagiarism. Most of what he shared on his story are reposts from others showing their support of Wooyoung, ATEEZ, and their choreographers, as well as calling out Vata for the issue.
His stories included the video that has been going around explaining what “biting” is…
Along with confusion over why Vata, who was apparently supposed to be a friend of ATEEZ member San, would seemingly plagiarize their choreography.
It seems that he’s been reading messages he received letting him know about the ongoing issue, and agrees with what has been said.
Finally, he also shared videos of ATEEZ — specifically Wooyoung — performing “Say My Name” live, showing just how much he supports him and the members through this frustrating time!
Along with the posts on his Instagram stories, Anze even reshared the original choreography video for “Say My Name” on his Instagram account, which was originally posted back in January 2019.
It’s clear to see from the actions and reactions from ATEEZ’s members and their choreographers that they definitely have each other’s backs, and we love seeing them showing appreciation and support for each other! There has still not been a response from Vata or Street Man Fighter regarding the plagiarism accusations at this time.