Recently, ASTRO’s Rocky released a brilliantly sentimental and cinematic dance/choreography video titled “ROCKY GA HOWGETZ: ICE FLOWER” on YouTube, which attracted incredible attention from viewers, including AROHA and others who were drawn to the video because of its quality. artistic. alone. In other words, Rocky’s collaboration with AROHA brought a gift not just to the latter, but to the art world at large and was received with the utmost grace and joy.
It all started when Rocky shared his plans to shoot an exclusive dance video where he would select the music, choreograph and direct everything. The song he chose was Hikaru Utada It is Skrillex‘Face my fears’. He then called a Rocky-Roha V-Live meeting, where he decided on the title of the video. From the beginning, Rocky placed immense importance on his audience and their opinions to ensure that the message he intended to convey was universally received without being lost in translation.
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When discussing the concept itself, Rocky revealed that the idea he had was to visualize and present himself as an ice flower. An ice flower is not an ice flower, but a flower that has been taken over by ice or frost. For Rocky, the frost that covered the beautiful glowing flower represents the perspective of others that is often projected onto her. This does not mean that it is perceived negatively or with indifference, but rather that a person’s projection is often a reflection of themselves. This external gaze tends to pressure the subject (here, the flower) to appear in a certain way, hiding its true qualities. The beauty of the flower is not in how it is perceived or in the eye of the beholder. The flower is beautiful by virtue of its inherent existence. However, just as winter doesn’t last forever, it’s impossible to stop a flower from blooming in all its glory.
To understand the extent of Rocky’s symbolism, it’s important to start with the song ‘Face My Fears’. Hikaru Utada sings about the struggle that comes with breaking the often oppressive shell of society and re-establishing one’s identity beyond the boundaries set by the world. Difficult as this process may seem, the truth cannot remain latent for long.
The dance video starts blue. Rocky is wearing a light blue satin top with matching pants. Her top has fringes to resemble a flower, though it still isn’t able to show her true colors. Rocky uses a blend of lyrical and modern contemporary dance styles to create a unique mode of self-expression. It’s theatrical yet understated, grand yet subtle.
Rocky’s facial expressions reveal a sense of loss, lack of self-confidence and submissiveness in the very first moments of the video. He is asleep and seems to have completely given in to the pressures of the outside world. However, he is also the source of his own momentum. Of course, he tried to awaken his true form, but to no avail. The set is utterly barren, with nothing but obstacles that barely hold up. However, once Rocky manages to get up to rediscover himself, the scene changes to a darkened room with a spotlight shining entirely on Rocky.
This set seems to represent his subconscious, an inner world constructed entirely of Rocky’s own beauty, artistry, light and dark. There, he shines and finds his true self, the one that simply can’t be contained anymore. It is also here that he realizes that the only one keeping him in this icy prison is himself.
In the next sequence, Rocky accepts the ice that covers him. Instead of fearing and surrendering without a fight, Rocky now expresses his own shadow work through his art. He is painfully aware that the ice will not melt on its own, never has, but the important thing is that he has now rekindled the fire within himself that will bring change. This is where Rocky smiles for the first time in the video.
Even as darkness and cold overwhelm him, he navigates them with grace and patience, working towards final victory. Finally, it blooms, bolder and brighter than ever, represented by the brilliant orange of the sunrise to which the backdrop changes.
The dance style in this solo sequence mirrors an earlier one, where Rocky breaks free for the first time, even though he’s still in the dark. However, he is more vivid than ever. However, this is not the end yet. A sudden flowering cannot be sustained in the cold. Only when one embraces the light and the dark, the deepest fears and the wildest dreams, can one move forward with conviction.
Even when doubt, despair, sadness or criticism try to overwhelm him, he does not fight these feelings, but calmly passes through them, taking them in his stride, maintaining his true value.
This performance is poetry incarnate and cannot be compared to the beauty and intensity with which Rocky expresses a profoundly human struggle. It flows like water and is light as a dewdrop on a flower petal at dawn. We’ve never seen anything like this before.
You can watch Rocky’s full performance here!
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